Pow and Hoggarad continue winning ways at Warwickshire County Closed tennis champs.
Top seed Luca Pow, 13, from Solihull booked his place in the final of the Warwickshire County Closed Under 16 tennis championships at Sutton Coldfield Club with an accomplished performance against rising star Sam Palmer, 16, from Four Oaks. Palmer who only took up the sport through getting inspired after watching the tennis at the 2012 Olympics and was playing in the event for the first time, had caused a major upset in the quarter-finals, putting out the fourth seed Adam Barrett. Against Pow, he refused to be overawed and went for his shots boldly hitting a string of service aces. However the fluent Pow, last year’s National 12 and Under champion had far too much match experience and courtcraft, punishing anything sort of a length with his rasping groundstrokes and came through in straight sets. He now meets the rapidly-improving Radu Manolescu who upset second seed Daniel Agranovsky from Rugby with his aggressive, all-court game.
Pow also cruised through to the semi-final of the 14 and Unders, beating Max Mladjenovic without dropping a game. Manolescu, the number two seed in the event, defeated Daniel Agranovsky’s younger brother Anthony in straight sets and in his semi will meet Cam Holland who came through an entertaining match against the big-hitting George Adams son of the Stratford-upon-Avon coach Graeme.
14-year-old Mary Hoggard, the favourite for the 14 and Under and 16 Under titles continued her winning ways after taking the senior women’s title earlier in the week. She inflicted a second straight sets defeat on Lucia Cassidy, 11, from Hampton Lucy, near Stratford-upon-Avon to reach the semi-final of the 14 and Under event. The athletic Cassidy who also fell to Hoggard in the 16 and Unders is tipped for stardom thanks to her aggression and ferocious hitting but found Hoggard’s extra experience too much to handle. Hoggard will now meet Charlotte Eaton for a place in the final. Marina Beckinsale, the second seed was forced to withdraw through injury so Coleshill’s talented Holly-Grace Ashford, 13, who qualified for the prestigious national Road to Wimbledon Championship goes through to the semis.