Abingdon Open Tournament 2006

The Abingdon Lawn Tennis Club 2006 Open Tournament was a Grade 4 event for Under 8 to Under 18 played on six hard (tarmac) courts. It took place from Sunday 13th to Saturday 19th August, and followed last year's format. Overall entries were about the same as last year's, but the number of girls was down a little. The weather forecasters threatened dire conditions. In the end the rain disruptions were less than feared, with their effects being mainly on the family doubles competition. We were particularly fortunate to have sunshine on Finals Day, with lots of nearby showers and thunder storms just missing us!

Julia Freeman, fresh from her show court duties at Wimbledon, did a brilliant job keeping the tournament running smoothly, despite the weather. The compliments she received from many competitors and from the ALTC for doing a good job were well deserved. Julia was assisted throughout the Tournament by the Tournament Director, James Eastwood. Thanks also to the three chair umpires who helped officiate on Finals Day.

We were honoured again to have the Mayor of Abingdon, Peter Green, attend and present the trophies. He is pictured above with the club Chairman, Linda Boston, and Tournament Referee, Julia Freeman, during the Presentation Ceremony. The Mayor is no stranger to the Tournament, as he accompanied his wife three years ago when she was the Mayor at the presentation ceremony!

This year there were a number of closely fought matches that could have gone either way. In the Under 16 Boys Singles, Ed Gilmour came back from 5-1 down to win the final set 7-6(7), and then proceeded to win another close three set match the next day.

George Collier had disappointments in two closely fought finals. He and his partner, Craig Drummond, took the first set in the Under 18 Boys Doubles, lost the second set and were finally defeated by in the third set 7-5 by determined opponents Tommy Barrett and Wayne Goodall. A similar pattern was followed in the Under 18 Boys Singles Final. George took the first set and lost the second. It looked all over as Robert Little raced to a 5-1 lead in the third set, but George fought back to level at 5-all and was serving to take the lead. The tension was so great that George's mum hid in the clubhouse! Sadly for George, Robert managed to break back to lead 6-5 and then to serve out the final 7-5.

The closest boys match was between Ben Cronin and Charlie Naylor in the Under 10 Boys Singles. Ben took the first set with strong attacking play, but Charlie resolutely defended in the second to win the tie breaker 7-5. The match deciding tie breaker was a marathon, going to 15-13 before Charlie finally won. The winner of their round robin section, Giles Waterson was the eventual finals winner. Charlie had the consolation of being the Under 9 Boys Singles winner.

In the Under 12 Boys Singles, Joshy Richards and Aaron Macdonald comfortably reached the final without dropping a set. Joshy continued his strong form to take the final 6-2,6-3.

In the girls matches,success came to girls who had competed in previous years. Alice Atkins won the Under 10 Girls final, having taken two tie break sets in earlier matches. Pip Rowe improved on last years Under 12 Girls singles runner-up by winning both the Under 12 Girls Singles and the Under 14 Girls Singles Finals this year. The runner-up of the Under 14 Girls Singles, Joanna Jump, who lives in Switzerland, has the distinction of being the competitor from furthest afield. Stephanie Prew, who won the Under 12 Girls Singles in 2004 and was the Under 16 Girls runner-up last year, was beaten 6-2, 6-1 in her Under 16 Girls Singles match with the eventual finals winner, Chloe Allen. However, Stephanie raised her game on Finals day to beat Chloe 6-3, 6-1 in the Under 18 Girls singles final.

The ALTC committee extends its thanks to the parents and club members who kindly helped with the day to day running of the tournament, and to the sponsors whose support has been important in making the tournament a success.

The Club extends its congratulations to all players for their good tempered but competitive play,and invite them to enter the Abingdon Open 2007 in August 2007!