Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Hubble double in men’s final
It was a battle of the brothers on Canterbury Lawn Tennis Club’s equivalent of Centre Court on Sunday when Tom and Nick Hubble went head to head in the club’s men’s singles final.
Nick took the first set from his older brother with some impressive attacking play.
The following sets saw the strength and steadiness of Tom’s game take control and he finished the 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 winner.
Earlier, the Hubble brothers paired up and were successful against Tom Pullen and Nick Wibberley in the men’s doubles final.
This proved to be the most entertaining match of the day, with a succession of rallies. The Hubbles ran out winners by two sets to one.
With last year’s ladies’ champion Tiegan Aitken away at an LTA national tournament, Rebecca Cooper, a many-times club champion, and newcomer Amie Tonkiss demonstrated just how powerful women’s tennis can be.
Tonkiss’s 6- 3, 6- 2 triumph represented a well-earned win for the 15-year-old.
Both ladies’ finalists made second appearances on court with family members.
Tonkiss faced her older sister Charlotte in the under18 girls’ singles and won again.
The first set went to a tie-break win for Amie, followed by a 6-4 success in the second set.
It was a father-and-daughter partnership of Jasper and Rebecca Cooper in the mixed doubles finals, where they faced Alison Meakin and James de Sausmarez.
The ‘Super Coopers’, as they are known, were favourites and took the first set 6-2, but Meakin and de Sausmarez came back strongly in the second set, taking four games from the eventual champions.
In the ladies’ doubles, Carol Bye and Lina Hopkins met Mary Cannon and Alison Meakin.
All four showed their talent and experience in a match that had spectators uncertain of the outcome until it was settled in a final championship tie- break won by Bye and Hopkins.
The juni o r f ina l i s t s demonstrated evidence not only of their own talent but also of the skills and inspiration of head coach Simon Grieve and the whole coaching team at Polo Farm.
The youngest on court were Rory Marles and Louis Temple, under-12s whose strokes could be the envy of many seniors. Marles won in two sets. Emma Slack also won in two sets against Rebecca Curland in the girls’ under-14s.
Alex de Sousa, already involved in national competition, showed spectators just why when he met Alex le Dur in the boys’ under-14s. It was a comfortable win for de Sousa, but le Dur played his part in a skilful match.
Tom Pullen made up for his defeat in the seniors’ doubles with a win against Rory Blackman in the combined boys’ under-16s and under-18s match.