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

Portsmouth & District League

Mens Division 1 – Avenue 2 beat CourtX 1 (3-1) – Lloyd Sampson, Tom Dow, Cameron Clarke, Rob Fearnley

End of Season Captain’s Message – Avenue 2s

As the summer season draws to a close, Avenue 2s were fighting tooth and nail to overcome a strong Court X 1 side in a final push to secure our place in Summer Division 1. Lining up for battle were: Lloyd “Passion is my Middle Name” Sampson Tom “Never Misses” Dow Cam “Silky Smooth” Clarke Rob “The Ultimate Professional” Fearnley It was never going to be an easy day at the office, but Sampson’s troops showed a true never-say-die attitude. Transitioning from grass to clay is never straightforward, but we adapted. The first rubbers couldn’t have been tighter. Sampson and Dow narrowly lost in an epic: 6-7, 7-6, 6-7, while Clarke and Fearnley edged their opponents 6-7, 6-3, 7-6 to leave the tie finely poised at 1-1 going into the second round of rubbers. With a quick pep talk from Sampson, and everyone chipping in with insights on what to expect, we regrouped. To keep our Division 1 status, a 3-point win was crucial — and the boys delivered under pressure. Sampson and Dow came through in straight sets: 7-6, 6-4 Clarke and Fearnley bounced back from the first set loss brilliantly to win: 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 This was a match for the ages. At one point, it looked like we might go 2 rubbers down — but this team doesn’t fold. The fighting spirit cannot be faulted, and the quality shown in key moments got us across the line. A few well-earned beers were consumed, alongside a cracking match tea of pizza, garlic bread, and sweet treats. I want to thank everyone who has represented the 2s across both the winter and summer leagues. It genuinely means a lot to me. As I now pass the captaincy baton to Mike Robinson, I know the team is in great hands going forward. A huge thank you to Ross, Andy G, Anna, Paul, and one of my closest friends James Rosenthal, who have all made the transition into men’s team captaincy such a smooth and enjoyable experience with their advice and support. It has truly been an honour to represent The Avenue. Thank you all. Lloyd Sampson

Mixed Division 2 – Avenue 3 beat Southsea (3-1) – Anne Treagust, Joe Hopkins, Dawn Wears, David Parvinmehr

Match report

Final match of our season and two new pairs venturing into battle. Both first rubbers were close with Dawn and Joe winning 7-5, 7-5. David and I took our time recovering from losing the first set on a tie break to seal the second 6-2. Thankfully the championship tie break went our way 10-7. Up 2 rubbers to 0 at the half way point. Rain temporarily stopped playing but once play resumed Dawn and Joe came out fighting with a convincing 6-1, 6-4 win. David and I again took our time but unfortunately couldn’t pull off another win losing 2-6, 4-6 in our second rubber. Still a 3-1 win to Avenue Mixed 3. Well played everyone. Anne Treagust

Avenue Mixed 3 end of season report

As a newly promoted team with fixtures against several Club 1st teams and of course Andy Gilliatt’s Mixed 2 side, we could have faced the challenge ahead with trepidation but instead we took it head on with aims of being both competitive and to claim enough points to stay clear of the relegation zone. Seven matches later, we achieved both of those goals, winning 3 of our fixtures and narrowly losing to Andy’s team in a drawn match by 5-4 in sets despite winning more games overall in another epic inter-club encounter. All 14 members of my squad played at least one match and most featured in 2 or more in what was a very satisfying Summer season for me personally and hopefully for all of my squad who I would like to thank for their commitment and effort and for making my role as Mixed 3 captain as easy a task as it can possibly be. Next up is another Winter League season in Division 3 with promotion to Division 2 a more than realistic target. Paul Whittenham

Mixed Division 4 – Avenue 5 tied with Wickham (2-2) – Billie Shamash, Stuart Newman, Megan Gibbs, Steve Jones (see team photo)

Match report

Anticipating wet and windy weather, Avenue Mixed 5s and Wickham agreed to meet earlier than scheduled and to play on the clay courts. The final score could not have been closer: Rubbers 2:2, Sets 4:4 and Games 41:41. A tie! First pair Megan Gibb and Steve Jones won both their rubbers, the first against Wickham’s second pair, with relative ease, but their second was more of a battle returning from 2-5 down to win the set 7-6 and then clinching the second rubber 6-4. To give them their due, Wickham’s first pair were beginning to flag by the time they played the second set of their second rubber; having played for over 2 hours against Billie Shamash and Stuart Newman in their first rubber and with virtually every game going to deuce, some multiple times. Unfortunately for Billie and Stu, they lost 5-7, 3-6, despite great efforts. In the final rubber they were beaten by Wickham 3-6, 5-7. Conditions were certainly not perfect, but all agreed that the fine rain had a cooling effect. We were able to enjoy our well-earned scrummy tea as the bad weather closed in, and we could watch the driving rain from the shelter of the covered balcony. The 5s are delighted that this tie guarantees that we shall not win the league’s wooden spoon this year, for the first time since the team was formed. Billie Shamash

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

Match report

Well, the decision to play or not today was a tough one but in the end it stayed dry but remained windy. Avenue Men’s Masters 1 coped better with the wind than Lee today and ended up with a convincing win. Great way to finish off a league winning season. I’d like to thank everyone of my squad for playing so well and making my job very easy. Ian Marks

East Hants Summer League

Ladies Division 2 – Avenue drew with Swanmore A (4-4) – Denise Simper, Sarah Long, Caron Howe, Denise Wears
Ladies Division 2 – Avenue lost to Midhurst (3-5) – Sarah Long, Alison Clarke, Dawn Wears, Caron Howe

Portsmouth News Article

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