TENNIS: Amherst Club Tournament
The Amherst tennis club has held its own pre-Wimbledon tournament with competitive matches most evenings over an intensive fortnight. The club courts at Amherst Gardens are situated at the crest of a hill, which means that the wind is usually blowing in one direction or another, and on the day of the finals from (it would seem) all four quarters.
In the men’s singles there was an upset at the quarterfinal stage when Dylan Preece, champion for the past two years, was knocked out by Stefan Le Breuilly in a championship tie-break. Le Breuilly was then himself defeated by the hard-hitting Anthony Hickey in the semi-final, and Hickey succumbed in turn to previous runner-up Quentin Soucek in last Saturday’s final.
The blustery conditions played havoc at times both with this match and the simultaneous women’s singles final, as Nikki Crowhurst’s strong ground strokes and big but erratic serve were matched by Pearl Hare’s flat returns and neat volleying. Crowhurst took the first set 6-1, Hare the second 6-4, and Crowhurst was down 5-7 in the concluding tie-break before winning the last five points to claim the title.
Soucek then combined with veteran Andy Chapman to win the men’s doubles against Jeff Gedge and Paul Ferrie. Mother and daughter Debi and Jada Ani defeated Anita Pearce and Barbara Fentiman in the women’s doubles. Gedge and Pearce gained success, however, as winners of the mixed doubles.
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