Mixed fortunes on island visit
Warsash and Ryde Lawn meet twice on the same day
The Isle of Wight was bathed in sunshine as 16 players from Ryde Lawn and Warsash gathered for two matches on the same day.
The top fixture was a National Tennis League fixture, involving many players who play regularly in the Portsmouth League. Not surprisingly, Warsash, who recently won the Solent Cup for Portsmouth, recorded a comfortable 5-1 win.
But it was a different story in the men’s Division 2 match. Warsash’s top pair, Sam Moon and Miles Quinn, won both their rubbers, the second in straight sets.
But it took them a while to get used to the unfamiliar Astro turf courts at Ryde, losing their first set to Dan Jones and Harry Benlakhrifa. And that slow start cost them the match. With Ryde winning the other two rubbers in straight sets, the extra set won by Ryde gave them the winning draw points on countback.
The other Division 2 match played was another in which the rubbers were shared. Here, Portsmouth Tennis Centre (PTC) won six sets to Lee 2nds’ four, giving them the winning draw points.
There was action in all three lower men’s divisions. In Division 3, Chichester 2nds claimed a 3-1 win against Avenue 3rds, Michael Ackerman and Callum Bud winning two rubbers for the Sussex team.
JEM tennis were too strong for Warsash 3rds in Men’s 4 while Abshott CC made a winning debut in the same division, though they had to play 10 sets to do so.
An Isle of Wight derby in Division 5 saw Ryde Mead 2nds beat Ryde Lawn 3rds 3-1, Mike Jenner and Steve Boswell scoring a double for Mead.
Switching to Ladies, the respective first pairs won the opening rubbers in the match between CourtX and Lee 2 with ease. But both Lee pairs won the reverse rubbers in straight sets, leaving them 3-1 winners overall.
In Division 5, Abshott CC completed their second win in two matches, a 3-1 win over Avenue 4ths.
Chichester 2nds and Southsea 2nds rounded off the weekend fixtures, their mixed 5 match seeing rubbers shared and Chichester edging home 40-38 on games countback.
A full midweek programme saw Avenue ladies 1sts suffer a rare defeat in Division 1, CourtX winning two crucial match tie breaks to record a 3-1 victory. Chichester thumped promoted Lee 4-0.
In the second division, Swanmore made their debut against Rowlands Castle in an 11-set marathon which, by the time Sue
Palmer and Liz Marenghi had finished their rubber against Yvonne Richardson and Gita Kanshik, had been going for four hours.
Palmer and Marenghi clinched a match tie break to level the rubbers at 2-2 but Swanmore won 6-5 on sets, giving them the winning draw points.
Ryde Lawn 2nds beat
Avenue 2nds 4-0 in the other ladies 2 match.
The midweek mixed 1 match between Ryde Lawn 2 and Warsash was another close one. Again, the rubbers were shared but Tom Carter and Anne Tapley won a marathon second set against Tracy Blyth and Syd Quinn. And although they went on to lose the match tie break, that set handed Ryde the winning draw points.
The opening men’s Masters match saw Fishbourne make a winning debut, 3-1 against Lee.