The first ALTC Championships took place in 1973 shortly after the reformation of the club.
In spite of landing on the only rainy day of the September heatwave, the proceedings went well thanks to the indoor courts at Balksbury.
The day was a celebration of tennis for all ages. The youngest mini players showed their surprising skills on reduced courts with soft balls. Guests of honour were two members who had won titles in the early years of the Championship. Glenys Chambers made a clean sweep of Singles, Doubles and Mixed in 1974. Dot Chaffey won the Singles twice and the Doubles three times in the early 80s. They both won more titles and are still active, very good players.
There were Junior events at all ages and prizes were also given for achievements over the year, all arranged by Head Coach Joe Revelle and his coaching team.
Most improved Mini, The Margaret Winnett Cup…Liliana Mawo
Most Improved Junior, The Wakeham Cup…Leo Crewell
Most Improved Saturday Morning Juniors, The Coomer Award… Maddison Tuffrey, Wilf Barnett and Woody Newton
Most Outstanding Club Juniors, The Joan Reeve Cup…Luciana Salazar-Lewis and Ned Barnett
The Junior Events on the day
Under 8 Singles…Serena Mawo
Under 9 Singles…Liliana Mawo
Under 10 Singles…Liliana Mawo
Under 12 Girl’s Singles…Amelia Martin
Under 14 Girl’s Singles…Meredith DeMarco
Under 14 Boy’s Singles…Ryan Crewell
Under 14 Girl’s Doubles…Amelia Martin and Molly Putt
Under 14 Boy’s Doubles…Luca Sangiorgo and Arav Pareek
Under 16 Girl’s Singles…Maria Sharova
Under 18 Boy’s Singles…Hari Putt
Under 18 Girl’s Singles…Flavia Zamfir
Under 18 Girl’s Doubles…Flavia Zamfir and Sorina Zamfir
The first Adult events coincided with the arrival of the rain. Switching to the indoor courts, the Ladies Singles Final had two young contestants, Flavia Zamfir and Maria Sharova, who were also playing for the Under 18 title.
Both Flavia and Maria strike the ball well and hit consistently good length shots from the back of the court. They are also very mobile. The major factor in this match was Flavia’s front court play. Her smashes and volleys made the difference and she came out the winner, 6-2, 6-2.
The Men’s Singles final saw Club Coach Joe Revelle take on Graeme Ellis. They have played many times before, sharing the spoils. The ball striking was powerful and you will not see a more stylish double handed backhand than Graeme’s.
This was a see -sawing match. Joe took the first set, but Graeme hit back to take the second. The deciding championship tie break was tense and tight. Joe took this, winning the title in an entertaining match. 6-2, 6-1, 10-7
The Mixed Title went to Ant Brown and Claire Reid as their opponents had to default because of illness. They had shown their Champion’s form in an epic semi-final against Graeme Ellis and Jennie Pope.
The Ladies Doubles was contested between Jennie Pope and Ros Hursell and Flavia Zamfir and Elena Clarke. The opening rallies were thoughtful and the consistency of Jennie and Ros seemed to be the main factor until Flavia used her athleticism to intercept rallies and finish points at the net, often set up by strong driving from Elena. This changed the dynamic of the match and Flavia and Elena won 6-3, 6-2.
The Men’s Doubles was always going to be a good match with last year’s winners, Ant Brown and Andrew Winnett playing the winner and runner up in last year’s singles final, Kyrill Kennett and Gregor Corcoran.
All four players started well, hitting with power and accuracy and covering the court with great speed. Ant was the dominant player to begin with and a tight first set went to him and Andrew.
Kyrill and Gregor were not downcast, however as they knew they were playing well. There was no drop off and the high standard continued as Ant and Andrew showed why they have won this title several times before. Ant has seven titles and Andrew an incredible twenty, three of them with Ant.
The younger pair, however, were determined and upped their effort, moving to another level. Kyrill made some incredible gets and along with awesome power, executed winning lobs and touch volleys, which left even speedy Ant unable to retrieve. Gregor matched Kyrill and in spite of pressing hard, Ant and Andrew were unable to stop the youngsters taking the set, the deciding tie break and the Title, 4-6, 7-5, 10-7.
Andrew was back on court after a short break to play the Senior men’s Final against last year’s winner, Martyn Isherwood.
He was very relaxed in his game after the doubles and was more consistent than Martyn, taking the first set. In the second, Martyn showed his wonderful hand skills and deft volleying in some games but it was Andrew’s steady play that won him the match and the title, 6-2, 6-2.
A great day was enjoyed by many spectators and a lot of helpers. The club thanks them all. In the end it was not the weather that won, but tennis.
Trevor Blake
12.09.23
