Soumeya Anane, 23, and Natasha Hillyer, 28 from Coventrywill spearhead Warwickshire women’s tennis side as they do battle in the elite Group 1 of the Aegon Inter-County Cup at Eastbourne (July 24th – 28th). Nationally-ranked junior Summer Yardley, 17, from Birmingham, who helped the Midlanders to victory in Group 2 of the Winter County Championship will make her Group 1 debut while county stalwarts Luisa Cowper and Leyla Ogan, Racquets Manager at Edgbaston Priory Club, will add extra experience to the side. Warwickshire are bidding to surpass last year’s success when against the odds they finished third in this highly competitive group but face a daunting task as title favourites Surrey and Hertfordshire look stronger than ever this year. However Smith who has just won a prestigious tennis scholarship to Vanderbilt University, Tennessee is in outstanding form while Anane and Hillyer have gained valuable experience playing doubles together on the ITF satellite circuit at tournaments across Europe.
“We’ve got our strongest side for some time,” said captain Katie Shaw “with a good mix of seasoned players and talented youngsters like Summer, Alannah and Katie Malzonia who played well on her debut in 2016. Everyone really pulled together last year despite several absences and finishing third was a bonus, so I’m hopeful we can do even better this time around.”
Warwickshire Men too are fielding a strong line-up as they aim to bounce straight back up from Group 5 at Felixstowe after being relegated last year. Captain Nathan Rooney from Solihull has selected three nationally-ranked 19-year-olds, Millfield-trained Luke Hammond and Solihull’s Luke Simkiss, both of whom are now based at Edgbaston Priory and Oliver Nolan from Sutton Hard Courts Club. Rooney and his assistant captain Steve Lee plus Warwick University coach Simon Ferguson should provide the drive and determination to steer the county back up the divisions.
“I’m delighted that our talented youngsters can play for us this year,” said Rooney “and I know they will really strengthen the side. Steve and Simon are both great battlers and we’ve also selected two experienced coaches, Cameron Malik from Stratford and Richard Partridge from Virgin Active in Coventry, so it’s a well-balanced team that I believe is capable of winning promotion – fingers crossed!”