Unbeaten season remains on cards
JEM Tennis and Warsash men’s teams still undefeated
The men’s competition in the 2021/22 Portsmouth Tennis League has been slower to take off than the ladies this winter. But as the halfway point of the season approaches, a flurry of matches saw Warsash and JEM Tennis extend their unbeaten records.
Avenue’s James Green and James Rosenthal were the first pairing to take a rubber off Warsash this season and Stuart Scott and Doug Galley gave Warsash’s Matt Pond and Matt Savage a scare when they took them to a match tie break which, had it gone the other way, would have give Avenue both the opening rubbers.
But Pond and Savage prevailed and went on to lead the team to a 3-1 win.
JEM’s second pair lost their rubber against CourtX’s first pair, Alfie Reynolds and Christophe Hardy, but recovered to win the seconds’ rubber. And with Shaun De Jongh and Zizheng Jin winning both their rubbers in straight sets, JEM triumphed 3-1.
Lee 2nds extend their unbeaten run in Division 2, only dropping 12 games in eight sets against Warsash 2nds.
Men’s Division 3 is shaping up to be a very closely fought division. Seacourt eased to top spot after a match against Avenue 3rds decided by three tie breaks.
The Hayling Island-based club won the first, in the opening set of the seconds’ rubber. Avenue won the second one, a match tie break in the same rubber, but Seacourt had won a crucial extra set.
The final tie break was another deciding one, in the final rubber, with Seacourt clinching a 3-1 win.
There were no tie breaks between Warsash 3rds and Chichester 2nds, but the
rubbers were still shared 2-2.
The countback saw Chichester win by just three games, largely the result of the set in which Siva Pillai and Gerald Edwards beat Jon Tims and Nigel Banton 6-0.
In the same division Ryde Mead and Lee 3rds fought out a 10-set marathon with the rubbers again shared.
Ryde’s Simon Baughan and Steve Boswell lost both their rubbers, but their experience enabled them to take a set in each of their defeats - and that secured the winning draw points 6-4 on sets.
Other men’s matches saw a 3-1 victory for CourtX against Active Academy, and 4-0 wins for Ryde Lawn 3rds, Carlton
Green and Fishbourne 2nds against Warsash 3rds, Rowlands Castle and Southsea respectively.
Carlton were also in action in a mixed Division 4 match the following day. Alverstoke’s top pair, Elaine Hannigan and James Young, took their opening rubber
after a match tie break, but Carlton won the remaining rubbers in straight sets.
Lee ladies 1sts opened their account in the top division when they condemned Avenue 1sts to a fifth successive defeat.
In Ladies 2, a 3-1 win for Chichester 2nds against Lee 2nds, helped by a double from Sara Smythe and Heidi Johnson, has left five teams within a point of each other chasing Warsash 2nds.
Ladies Division 5 leaders Stubbington notched up their fifth successive victory, against Chichester 3rds, while nearest rivals Wickham maintained pressure on the leaders with a 4-0 whitewash of Sarisbury Green.
The match between Southsea and Avenue 4ths was drawn 2-2 on rubbers and 4-4 on sets. Avenue took the winning draw points by just three games, thanks to Mary Robinson and Aileen Newman’s final 6-0 winning set.
Avenue’s midweek mixed masters 2nds faced Warsash 2nds. The missed rubbers were shared, with Avenue taking a one game advantage into the second round.
Sheena Quinn and Janet Armitage won the ladies v ladies rubber after a match tie break, leaving the match to be decided in the men v men rubber.
A win of any sort would give Warsash overall victory, while even a loss could still give them the winning draw provided they won a set. And at 6-5 to them in the second set, that looked a distinct possibility. But no, Mark Fullstone and Adrian Drummond levelled at 6-6 before taking the tie break, snuffing out Warsash’s last hopes!