Club Champs Order of Play & Highlights Day 10

Dear All,

Day 10 brought the heat — both on court and in the commentary!

Top fan Lindsay Gibbons made it just in time to witness Tom Fenton’s now-iconic Usain Bolt smash pose. The celebration? Olympic-level. The smash? Unreturnable (unless you’re Joe Reeve — more on that later...).

Quote of the Day – Ivan Savage :
"I'm not a fan of this new rule. Whose idea was it that we had to get the ball inside the lines?"
We feel you, Ivan . It's tough out here.

George Hope fired an ace so fierce it flew past a fully airborne Coach Luke Hymas . Yes, George aced the coach — and yes, the crowd went wild.

Joe Reeve gave us the shot of the day (though we should point out that he is at least partially responsible for this newsletter). With top seed Tom Fenton charging in and unleashing a full-throttle smash straight at him, any sane human would’ve backed off. Not Joe . He stepped closer. Turned his head. Stuck his racket out… and somehow lobbed it over Tom’s head to win the point.
Miraculous? Maybe. Legendary? Absolutely.

Joe may want to remember that shot more than the one he missed quite spectacularly at 5-4 up and 30-30 when he had an open court to put the ball away and grab himself a set point. The indomitable Tom , in true champion style, seized on Joe's missed opportunity, reset and marched on to win that set 7-5 and the subsequent one 6-0.

Alyson Fox and Aruna Iyengar were ruthless in their doubles match, defeating Manjit Roseghini and Anna Leslie with a commanding 6-0, 6-1 win. Manjit summed it up perfectly:
" Alyson was just hitting too hard, we just couldn't get them."

Big hitter and seventh seed Jane Buswell pulled off a gritty victory, turning around a 5-3 deficit in the second set to take down fourth seed Jess Bosi 6-2, 7-5 in their women's singles quarter final. Precision > topspin today!

Dom Pearson and Jo Weiland were in unstoppable form in their singles matches. Dom delivered a flawless performance against Daniel Ajegbo , winning 6-0, 6-0 without breaking a sweat. Jo followed up with a dominant 6-1, 6-1 win over Alasdair Bradley , showing power, precision, and complete control.

Elsewhere, in the men’s doubles 50+, the crafty pairing of Peter Higgs and Mark Alderson outmanoeuvred Mark Cheung and Takero Shimazaki , claiming a well-earned 6-3, 6-4 victory with smart angles, clever play, and plenty of experience on show.

The day came to a close beneath a glowing orange evening sky, with a brilliant men’s doubles match. Miles Speer and Joe Reeve (collecting himself remarkably well after his earlier mishap against Tom Fenton ) overcame the raw power of Tom Leech and Jonathan Pearson , sealing a high-energy 6-3, 6-4 win. Great teamwork, clever tactics, and a fitting finish to an unforgettable day.

Tomorrow's matches to watch:

We are salivating at the lineup for tomorrow. There will be some gripping men's singles quarter finals action as third seed Dom Pearson takes on seventh seed Chris Alstadt and Matt Whitehead faces good friend Jo Weiland .

Meanwhile, the men's vets has an intriguing-looking encounter between Miguel "beautiful single-handed backhand" Viera and second seed Adam Burgis , and last year's runners up Emma Michell and Jess Moody take on Guita Michael and Sarah Marchand in the quarter final of the ladies doubles.

But match of the day will surely be at 630pm when father daughter duo and third seeds Hamid and Kiran Irshad face fifth seeds Benson Yuen and Alyson Fox ( Hamid's partner). This match will undoubtedly be ram packed full of huge groundstrokes, amazing angles and cunning tactics.

See you there!

Order of Play: Tuesday 24th June

4pm

WS50+: Aruna Iyengar vs Anna Leslie

6.30pm
MS: Dom Pearson [3] vs Chris Alstadt [7]
XD: E.Michell/L.Hymas vs G.Kirwan/N.Stott
XD: B.Yuen/A.Fox [5] vs H.Irshad/K.Irshad [3]
MS50+: Charlie Casey [4] vs Robert Henderson
MS50+: Miguel Viera [7] vs Adam Burgis [2]
MD50+ J.Pearson/W.Meredith vs M.Alderson/P.Higgs
WD50+ J.Hammond/S.Schubert vs A.Traynor/N.Cox

7.45pm
MS50+: Marc Meyohas [5] vs Jamie Burnett
MS: Matt Whitehead [2] vs Jo Weiland [6]
WS50+: Alyson Fox [2] vs Kate Binedall
MD50+: Jonathan Pearson vs Bill Meredith
WD: E.Michell/J.Moody vs G.Michael/S,Marchand