Club Champs Order of Play & Highlights Day 7

Dear All,

The old timers tell me OC was all green grass fields once upon a time. Today is is hot red clay. This evening everything is bathed in golden light. Welcome to the newsletter of the best tennis club in the world. No, actually, the best club in the world! It’s 15K to join Queens! And it’s not even in South London. So, people, you are living the dream. Paradise in SE21. As our legend coach Alex says, don’t worry, “Victory is fleeting, losing is forever”.

Coach Hamid , a serial vet champ, says (along with Jim Connors), “Experience is a great advantage. The problem is when you get the experience you are too dammed old to do anything about it."

Here are some of the highlights from Friday's action:

A riveting match in the ladies' doubles. Aruna and Sonia in a game of attrition versus Anna and Manjit , who played like a brick wall. It was a very tight match. Aruna says they won on self-belief. Anna and Manjit were the Great Wall of SE21. Couldn’t get passed them. Like a traffic light on the South Circular! Grit and determination. Match of the day the public say. The lobs were so high they came down with ice on them. The game was decided by a massive smash from Aruna . In an aside from the thronging viewing public, Joy the club President says I want score cards on each court to understand and feel the tension!

Jo Cheung and Rebecca Taylor v Sylvia Schubert and Gill Kirwan was a championship tie break. They were 5-0 down in the 2nd set and they came back! Victory belongs to the tenacious. When asked about her tactics she Jo said she stayed cool calm collected.

Ivan Savage and Simon Godfrey were to play Jamie Burnett and Paul McKay . Ivan drove back from France at 6pm to make the match. That is what I call commitment. In the end it was was both a drive over and a walk over for Savage and Godfrey . Simon was in a state of awe and surprise. He has never been in the second week. S imon said he is booking the de luxe suite (with it’s own indoor tennis court) at the Crown and Greyhound to prepare himself fully for what lies ahead.

In another missive from the supporting crew Anne Traynor says people have won matches and haven’t come to the bar to spend! Nor have the losers come to drown their sorrows. It seems that the tennis establishment is spending all their spare funds on Babolat gold and getting their racquets restrung by Wayne .

Michael and Sid . Sid derived some comfort from a 6-3, 6-1 victory against club stalwarts Alec Williams and Sam Foster . But, according to courts side intel, nothing could console him from the shame he brought upon his family who had come all the way from Singapore and Delhi, only to see him lose 6-2, 6-1 to 12th seed Alasdair Bradley .

Father and son team the Caseys (club rules say you are allowed to smile Charlie ) against Tom Hladik and Alasdair Bradley . James Casey said about his dad, it was his fault. When pressed on what feature exactly of his dad’s game troubled him, he said, “everything.” Charlie said, "We played well together, some of our best tennis, we are putting it together and will be contenders next year. It’s a funny old game tennis."

Club coach Luke (new man on the block) playing with Emma against Louisa Butler and Marc Baylis , 6-1, 6-1. Shouts of VAMOS from Baylis when he finally returned the Luke serve! Marc said “we had the measure of Luke ; but we were battered by Emma’s relentless cross court forehands."

When the lights came on it was Kramer verus Kramer. Sorry I mean Joe versus Joe in doubles (with their partners Hannah Pulford and Amy Sergeant ). Amy Sergeant Essex girl * one of the South End contingent who has traded in the sea for the hot sands of Dulwich. This was an electric match, which went the distance, with Joe Tyndall and Hannah Pulford taking it in the champ tiebreak.

Tomorrow's matches to watch:

Tomorrow will see some exciting action from the get go, with a sumptuous looking line up for Super Scorching Saturday. As early as 1030am, the incredible Pugh and Schuster-Bruce pair will take on the young Henderson duo in what should be a sensational men's doubles match up.

Then the heat of the day will see an array of men's singles seeds take to the courts. At 3pm, 9th and 10th seeds, Benson Yuen and Joe Reeve will play each other in a battle of wits vs devastating power, while 11th seed Tom Hladick will play 5th seed Miles Speer in a fight to see who can play the more beuatiful tennis.

As the temperatures start to cool there will also be some gripping women's singles action for you. Last year's champ Virunee Viravong will face eighth seed Alyson Fox , second seed Jess Moody tries her luck against the queen of guile Amy Sargeant , and the ferocious forehand of Emma Michell will tackle the formidable Hannah Pulford.

So get on down and support your fave OCers!

21st June: Order of Play

7.45am

MS: Hugo Odgers vs Attila Takacks

10.30am

MD: S.Pugh/J.Schuster-Bruce vs L.Henderson/T.Henderson

1.30pm

WD50+: M.Roseghini/A.Leslie vs F.Breen/C.Monfort
XD: M.Cowie/J.Buswell vs A.Bradley/V.Viravong [2]
MD50+: C.Casey/M.Viera [4] vs S.Godfrey/I.Savage OR J.Burnett/P.McKay

3pm

MS: Tom Fenton [1] vs Alex Walker
MS: Benson Yuen [9] vs Joe Reeve [10]
MS: Lewis Henderson [4] vs
MS: Tom Hladick [11] vs Miles Speer [5]

4.30pm

WD: A.Sergeant/V.Viravong [1] vs H.Harrison/E.Persson
WD: G.Kirwan/S.Schubert OR J.Cheung/R.Taylor vs C.Beck/E.He OR J.Bosi/A.Fox [4]
WD: S.Marchand/G.Michael vs E.Michell/J.Moody [2]
16U Boys: Seb Soegianto vs Seb Bennion
12U Boys: Phoenix Bidder [2] vs Freddie Tidbury [8]

6pm

MD: L.Hymas/H.Irshad [3] vs K.Anand/G.Hope
MD: J.Diez-Alvarez/K.Walji vs M.Baylis/J.Blacknell
MD: A.Walker/B.Yuen vs D.Ajegbo/N.Stott

7.30pm

WD50+: S.Casey/Y.Langley vs N.Cox/A.Traynor
WS: Virunee Viravong [1] vs Alyson Fox [8]
WS: E.Michell [6] vs Hannah Pulford [3]
WS: A.Sergeant [5] vs Jess Moody [2]