Richard Partridge from Coventry, the top seed, survived an entertaining tussle with Solihull’s Alex Griffiths, 17, to take the Men’s singles title at the new-look Warwickshire County Closed Tennis Championship, staged at Sutton Coldfield for the first time. The big-serving Partridge, 24, who is currently playing on the tournament circuit, needed all his extra power and experience to overcome the fluent Griffiths who went for his shots and retrieved cannily. Griffiths took the 18 and Under title with an accomplished victory over Daniel Agranovsky from Rugby 6-0 6-3.
In the 12 and Under semis, Kenilworth’s Connor Checketts put out the favourite Anthony Agranovsky from Rugby while the diminutive Ferran Redza, 11, from Hampton Magna beat 4th seed Sam Sitch from Solihull. In the final, Checketts survived a cliff-hanger, squeaking through against Redza 7-5 5-7 11-9 in one of the best matches of the week. All four semi-finalists are members of Gary Naughton’s squad at the David Lloyd Centre in Coventry.
In the girls’ 12 and under event, Cadey Morgan from Edgbaston Priory defeated her junior county teammate Claudia Sheftalia 6-1 6-4.
Mary Hoggard, 14, dominated the older age group events, making it a clean sweep as she added both the 14 and Under and the 16 and Under events, to the women’s title she had won earlier in the week, beating the unseeded Kara Biggs from Warwick Boat Club. In the 14 and Unders, she came through in style against the unseeded 14-year-old Sophie Smith from Sutton Coldfield who had caused a major upset in the quarter-finals, putting out the second seed Lois Porter from Balsall Common. Hoggard however had too much weight of shot and consistency for her less experienced opponent and cruised through the final without dropping a game. It was the same story in the final of the 16 and Unders when she outhit 15-year-old Mia Faulkner 6-0 6-0. She also won the girls 14 and Under doubles and partnered Solihull’s Luca Pow, 13, to victory in the 14 and Under Mixed doubles event which was being played for the first time.
As expected, Pow, last year’s National 12 and Under champion, proved the class act. He retained his 14 and Under crown, defeating Solihull’s Radu Manoluescu 6-0 6-3 and then beat the same player in the final of the 16s, 7-5 6-1 in a far closer contest. The athletic, big-serving Manolescu enjoyed an impressive giant-killing run throughout the week, despite limited competitive opportunities as he recently began boarding at Eton College. He underlined his recent improvement, putting out several higher rated players en route to both finals, including the gritty second seed Daniel Agranovsky from Rugby in the 16s and Agranovsky’s younger brother Anthony in the 14s.
“We’re delighted at how well the County Closed has gone at its new venue,” said organiser Bev Lancaster. “Sutton Coldfield Tennis Club staged it superbly and there was a great atmosphere. There’s been some outstanding tennis – the 12 and Under boys’ final between Ferran and Connor was a real highlight - and Mary Hoggard and Luca Pow showed why they’ve done so well nationally. Everyone loved the fun day and barbecue we staged for the first time and the new social mixed doubles events were very popular too with players of all standards.”
