BACKWELL 0 WRITHLINGTON MEN’S 1sts 10

Heading to the furthest of our away fixtures was Mike (the Chef), Simon, Nathan and Patrick. Backwell greeted us with some sunny but very windy weather.

Simon and Mike paired up to play against Ben and Huw. A speedy win followed for Writhlington some classic net-rushing – 6-2, 6-2.

Mike and Simon followed this up with another quick win against Henry and Ben, 6-2, 6-1, and the volleying masterclass was delivered by order of the Chef!

Pat and Nathan took longer to adjust to conditions playing Henry and Ben; 7-6 to Backwell. The next set was 6-3 to

Writhlington. At 9-8 down in the match tiebreaker, Pat hit a running backhand down the line (which was most likely Federer’s inspiration for his victory over Nadal!), match point saved and quickly stole the win. Against Ben and Huw, it was a more straightforward affair, 6-4, 6-3.

It’s a shame the result won’t affect the relegation issues the Men’s team face, but a good way to enter the final match of the season.

WRITHLINGTON MEN’S 2nds 4 LANSDOWN 3rds 6

Another evening of three-setters – thank goodness both teams were on time and we could start early!

Graham Steer and Andy Jeffery played the A pair of Joe and Jeremy, and were steamrollered in the first set, 6-1. We then started playing(!), and managed to get into the head of Joe, and used lobs to good effect, which meant we took the next two sets 6-3, 6-4. Meanwhile, Chris Cox and Darren Thompson were not on top form, and lost to Ollie and Ian 2-6, 5-7. They freely admitted they played badly.

After the turnaround, Chris and Darren managed to improve their game considerably, and were worthy winners against Joe and Jeremy 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 – a great result!

Graham and Andy were cruising against Ollie and Ian, 6-3, 4-3 and 40-0 up, when a dodgy line-call by Lansdown upset the applecart and we went downhill for a 6-3, 5-7, 2-6 loss. If we had managed to win, we would have secured an extra four points, because we lost the overall match by six sets to five – such a shame!

The relegation fight is a four-way thing now – Lakeview are virtually relegated, we have 38, Clifton 40 and Bishop Sutton 42.

The last match next week sees Clifton visiting top-of-the-table Knowle, and we visit Bishop Sutton, who not only desperately want to stay up, but also have a score to settle after our bad-tempered 10-0 win earlier in the season. Lansdown and Knowle are promoted.

Andy Jeffery

WRITHLINGTON 3rds 2 LAKEVIEW 2nds 8

Plenty of effort once again from the home team of Tom Hunt, Steve Lawrence, George Penna and James Brocksopp, but it was going to be an uphill battle when we saw Fred and Vladimir turn up.

These were the same two who gave us such an awkward time when we travelled to their home ground.

Tom and Steve took on Fred and Vladimir first and were given a rather torrid time by the hard-hitting Vladimir and canny play from Fred. We never really got into gear and suffered a 1-6, 1-6 loss.

Tom and Steve’s second match against John and Joe seemed to be heading in a similar direction but we found a way to impose our game and ran out 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 winners.

Early optimism for James and George against John and Joe soon disappeared while the errors increased. A number of chances went begging for us while they took theirs, and that was the main difference. 3-6, 4-6 loss. It was always going to be difficult in our second match against Fred and Vladimir, and they were simply better than us.

Despite the 2-6, 2-6 loss it was still an enjoyable game and there were some good moments for us.

WRITHLINGTON LADIES’ 1sts 6 CENTRAL 4

Nothing but a win on Friday night for the Ladies’ Firsts would do! Mandy and Ces took on Kerris and Chloe from Central.

We had a great start going 3-0 up, but unfortunately we couldn’t sustain our form and lost the first set 4-6. Central really upped their game, especially due to Chloe bringing out some big leftie serves which were hard to return. Some great rallies were played in the second set and every game went to deuce, but we lost the set 3-6.

We were really feeling the pressure in our second match against Theresa and Julia, as we couldn’t afford to lose any games in this match. Before we knew it we were 0-2 down. Hearing that Eleanor and Kelly had won two games in their match gave us the drive to relax and play our game. We came through 6-2, 6-0.

WRITHLINGTON LADIES’ 2nds 2 LANSDOWN 2nds 8

Ali and Laura had a competitive but friendly match, against the Bath second pair, Sally and Lou.

There were lots of close points and endless deuces, which we unfortunately didn’t manage to convert. The weather was beautifully sunny and there was some cracking play by Ali at the net. The first set we were pretty much

neck-and-neck, however, the second set quickly ran away from us. A very enjoyable match overall that was closer than the score reflects.

After being warned that the Bath first pair had slightly dodgy line calls, and that Sue possessed a fierce temper, we entered our second rubber with slight hesitation. Already losing the light and feeling very stiff after an hour-long wait between rubbers, we didn’t start the match until after

9 p.m. and with only two tennis balls!

We managed to claw the first set back from 0-3 to 3-4, with some strong net play from Ali and baseline shots from Laura, with many of the games going to deuce. Our opposition, Sue and Katie played some interesting tennis, ultimately making less unforced errors than us. Unfortunately, the second set ran away with us, with it basically being dark towards the end. Before we knew it we’d lost the first set 0-6.

An enjoyable evening of tennis nonetheless! Bath were lovely hosts and we got to catch some of the Federer/Nadal match in between rubbers!

Mandy S. and Lucy paired to play Bath’s Third team.

Little did we know when we started playing at 6.30 p.m. that we’d still be out on the courts at 10.40 p.m!

Both rubbers went to a set all and then were decided on either a third set or a championship tie-break. The first rubber saw a narrow loss with a 6-3, 6-7, 5-7 score for us.

Although we won more games, we just didn’t win the crucial points.

We started the next rubber already exhausted by the previous. The first set was decided on a tie-break which we lost, 6-7. The second (where we finally transferred to a flood-lit court) saw a comfortable win, 6-2.

At one-set-all, we embarked on a championship tie-break where we got to 8-8 and then lost the next two points. A gruelling loss as in both rubbers a win had felt so possible and both times it had not gone our way.

55 games played in all. Two very exhausted Ladies made their way home at 11 p.m!