Please find details below of the Club tennis matches played and recorded since last Thursday: –

Portsmouth & District Tennis League

Ladies Division 2 – Avenue 2 beat CourtX 2 (3-1) – Heather Halliday, Jackie Edney, Nicky Woolhead, Denise Simper

Match report

Last match of the summer and a great win for the team. A hard fought battle by both couples against a strong 1st pair from Court X. Excellent effort and another 3 points – well played team. Heather Halliday

Ladies Division 2 – Avenue 3 v Rowlands Castle (3-1) – Julia Baker, Anne Treagust, Katy Loh, Alison Clarke

Match report

A great 3:1 win over Rowlands Castle. There was no stopping Katy and Alison who were not going to allow RC to get a game in either of their matches. Anne and Julia had some great rallies winning against their first pair but their second pair just got the better of us. A very friendly and enjoyable match. Julia Baker

Ladies Division 4 – Avenue 4 losing draw v Southsea (2-2) – Sheila Drummond, Linda Barber, Louise Charlton, Netty Hart

Match report

Southsea were definitely gearing up to be Victorious – knowing that just two points from this match would crown them as division champions and put them in Summer festival mood!

They brought out their two young starlets, both named Charlotte, as their 1st pair, who possessed an “all-singing, all-dancing” game, which featured strong serves, good ground strokes, sharp angles and deadly drop shots.  Sadly, the age and experience of Avenue 4 ladies didn’t have quite  the effect we had hoped for. Linda & Sheila narrowly managed to avoid the double bagel in their rubber, winning the penultimate game to lose 0-6,1-6. Netty & Louise chalked up four games against them in their second rubber. But the gratifying element of the day was to be found in both rubbers against Southsea’s 2nd pair, as Avenue 4 ladies won both of their championship tie-breaks, dispelling the curse that seems to have lingered over our summer season. We congratulated Southsea ladies for topping the table, while giving ourselves a virtual pat on the back for giving a very good account of ourselves & securing a point in this penultimate game of the summer. They congratulated us on providing a sumptuous tennis tea, which drew admiring and covetous glances from the nearby “sausage rolls & crisps” brigade of Avenue Men’s 4! Well played everyone and welcome to Louise, who made her debut for Avenue Ladies 4. Sheila Drummond

Mens Division 2 – Avenue 3 lost to Warsash 2 (1-3) – Matt Hotchkiss, Adam Tolmie, Joe Hopkins, David Parvinmehr

Match report

Division 2 comes to a close with a very tight match against top of the table side Warsash 2. Adam and Joe played excellently, and a very close tie break prevented them from winning both rubbers. David played very well but not taking key points prevented us from winning either of ours. We will be back to Division 2 and stronger for the experience. Matt Hotchkiss

Mens Division 3 – Avenue 4 lost to Lee 3 (1-3) – Dennis Greenwood, Graham Cotterill, Adrian Drummond, Steve Jones

Match report

Avenue 4 played well in our last match of the season  but lost 3-1 in rubbers, 6-3 in sets and 42-32 in games to a stronger Lee team. This league has proved to challenging for us but hopefully next season we will find the right combinations to make it work. Stew Wiles

Mixed Division 2 – Avenue 2 winning draw v Bognor (2-2) – Sarah Long, Phil Broad, Denise Simper, Martyn Lawrenson

Match report

The Avenue Mixed 2 team travelled to the desolate Bognor Tennis Club, a barren setting with courts that looked as though they had been built from the bones of long-forgotten Butlins red coats. Against this haunting backdrop, Avenue battled through an afternoon of grit, graft, and guile to come away with a hard earned winning draw. The opening rubbers were fiercely contested, with Bognor making the most of their home advantage and gusts of sea air that seemed to bend the ball at will. Avenue, however, were not about to be blown off course. Through sharp net play and steady nerves, they clawed their way into the tie, refusing to surrender ground easily. Every rally told a story: of baseline duels, lung busting chases, and the occasional moment of brilliance that had the small but hardy crowd of red coated ghosts nodding in approval. The contest swung back and forth, each side landing blows, but never quite delivering the knockout punch. When the final point was played, honours were shared at 2 rubbers apiece, but Avenue with a two game advantage got the winning draw, bagging two vital points in the process. Those points lift the team into third place in the table, with just two matches left in what promises to be a thrilling summer run-in. On a day when perseverance met parody seaside charm, Avenue showed that steel and spirit are every bit as important as forehands and volleys. Andy Gilliatt

Mens Masters Division 1 – Avenue 1 beat Chichester (4-0) – Ian Marks, Peter Campbell, Richard Marston, Neil Crawford

Mens Masters Division 1 – Avenue 1 losing draw v Swanmore 1 (2-2) – Ian Marks, Peter Campbell, Colin Airton, Neil Crawford

Match report

Very tight top of the table clash, went to the wire with only one game in it at the end. A potentially very valuable point obtained for the Avenue in our quest for the Division One title in our first season in the Mens Masters competition. Ian Marks

Mixed Masters Division 1 – Avenue 1 beat Wellow (3-1) – Ian Marks, Katy Loh, Liz Lim, Phil Tusler

Ladies Masters Division 2 – Avenue 2 winning draw v Denmead (2-2) – Caron Howe, Dawn Wears, Katherine Arnold, Anne Treagust

British Masters Grass Court Closed Championships – Aorangi Park, Wimbledon (see photos)

Avenue Tennis Club was well represented at the recent British Masters event with Katie Rowley, Ashley Neaves and Viola Masona all taking part. It was a particularly triumphant tournament for Katie who battled her way to the final of the Ladies O55 singles event where she beat Linda Jones from Ventnor Tennis Club in 3 sets in sweltering conditions. Another fantastic achievement by Katie who also reached the semi-finals of the ladies doubles event. In the past 2 weeks alone, Katie has played both 8 singles and 8 doubles matches between the O35s County Weekend (playing for East of Scotland) and the Weybridge Masters ITF 400 event which she also won. Many congratulations Katie, we are very proud of your achievements! Ashley entered the Mens O35s singles event where he reached the semi-finals before going out to the number 2 seed. A fantastic effort from our Head Coach whose story of the event can be found at the following Instagram link: –

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNdCP30tPIX/?igsh=a2Zka2Y5bWtxZHAy

Viola was looking to build on her success at the recent Weybridge event where she reached the semi-finals of the Ladies O55 singles event before losing to Katie but found herself drawn against Katie again, this time in the opening round. She and her partner, Frances Colling from Thornden Tennis Club were defeated in the quarter finals of the Ladies Doubles but the ever positive Viola reports that it was another great match play experience and she will be working even harder at her game (if that’s even possible given her work ethic) to get better results next year.

Portsmouth News Article

Last Saturday’s report can be found at the following link: – Portsmouth & District LTA

Paul Whittenham