by norfolktennis | Dec 4, 2019 | Competitive Tennis, News
This year we faced five strong counties, namely Yorkshire, Lancashire, Surrey, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire who had just been been promoted. The results are as follows:
Saturday 28th April Hertfordshire bt Norfolk 3 -2
Sunday 9th June Bucks bt Norfolk 3-2
Saturday 18th May Norfolk bt Surrey 3-2
Saturday 15th June Norfolk bt Lancashire 3-2
Sunday 21st July Yorkshire bt Norfolk 3-2
These results just show how close the competition was with a couple of these matches losing in the third set tie break! Below demonstrates even more how close it was between Yorkshire, Lancashire and us. We had to wait until the very end of the season to see our fate, but I’m confident we will bounce back next year!
Thank you so much to my committed squad of ladies who all played brilliantly throughout: Judy Horn, Lesley Cooper, Susie Hill, Ann Nicholls, Sara Worley and to Tish Peal and Mary Ogden for their much appreciated guest appearances!
Sally Bridgstock
by norfolktennis | Dec 2, 2019 | Competitive Tennis, News
The Norfolk Ladies O60’s headed up to the David Lloyd Dudley this weekend to play the intercounty final against Essex, and came home as champions.
It was a good match with the result being decided on the last match.
Tish Peal and Caroline Blincoe played the singles matches against Essex with Tish narrowly losing on a third set championship tiebreak and Caroline claiming a good win. Sue Rich and Jane Ray then played the doubles round and won comfortably . Hence Norfolk were 2-1 ahead after round 1.
Next the Norfolk singles players teamed up to play doubles against the Essex doubles pair with Sue and Jane played doubles against the Essex singles players.
Jane and Sue just lost, again in a third set championship tiebreak but luckily Tish and Caroline clinched their game in 2 sets.
Hence Norfolk won 3-2.
Left to right: Sue Rich, Jane Ray, Tish Peal, Caroline Blincoe
by norfolktennis | Nov 26, 2019 | Competitive Tennis, News
On weekend Nov 22-24th, Norfolk Mens team were competing at Liverpool in Div 2a of Winter County Cup.
The team was full of youth supported by some experience and Mr Norfolk, Captain Nicky Crawley. The full squad included: Alex Mcnaughton, Fred Withers, Alex Watkinson, Mike Digby, Dan Wynne, Matt Samson, Nicky Crawley, James Aukland, Kris Jenkins.
On Day 1 the team faced Lancashire, but with each singles player losing their opening service game it would prove to be an uphill task. Straight set defeats in all the singles and only a consolation doubles win for Crawley/Jenkins. A 1-7 defeat was not part of the plan.
Saturday welcomed the introduction of James Aukland, an outstanding performer for the county with a wealth of experience. Facing a strong Cheshire team, this change alone would not be enough. A 2-7 defeat meant that the final day would be a straight shoot out with Derbyshire to avoid relegation.
After the singles the match was tied 3-3, so two rubbers were needed to secure safety. The match score was soon 4-4, both teams each winning a doubles rubber. It would all go down to the final rubber. Norfolk were represented by the Mcnaughton/Samson partnership, who despite being relatively new to senior tennis, had played together throughout juniors. After 2 sets it was still all square, so a final set tiebreak would decide relegation. Unfortunately despite a determined fight back, Norfolk would lose 8-10 and face relegation to Div 3 of Winter County Cup.
Captain Crawley said: “We had our chances and need to protect our own service games better. The younger players are still developing and we need to keep pushing them to ensure they play their best tennis. Defeat is never easy to take but we will learn from this and play better in the future”.
by norfolktennis | Nov 26, 2019 | Competitive Tennis, News
Over the weekend, 22-24th November the Ladies were competing in Taunton at the Div 3b Winter County Cup event.
A young team, including Maria Andrews, Maddie Brooks, Frances Evans, Sam Noble (Capt), Emily Barrett, Eleanor Widdows, Elissa Wood, Hannah Wilson-Kemsley, Millie Brooks were captained by Sam Noble and Caroline Blincoe. They faced strong competition against Dorset, Avon and Nottinghamshire and ultimately came up one rubber short!
An opening day 3-6 defeat to Dorset could have been so different. Three of the rubbers ending up as final set defeats. On Saturday the team played Nottinghamshire. Wins for Maddie and Frances in the No.3 and No.4 singles would not be enough and the team would go on to lose 2-7.
Going into the final day against Avon, the team knew that a win would ensure safety and guarantee they remained in Div 3b. After going 3-0 up, optimism was high but the singles finished with the teams level at 3-3. Maddie and Maria then won the opening doubles, but defeat for Emily/Millie and Sam/Frances meant Norfolk lost 4-5 and were relegated to Div 4.
Sam Noble (Captain) said “This is the second time in successive county cups that we have been relegated by a single rubber. It is tough to take but the girls will only improve as they are so young. We will bounce back next year”.
by norfolktennis | Nov 18, 2019 | Junior Tennis Blog, News
NLTA asked Mike Digby, ex-county junior for an update on his work as a hitting partner on the ATP and WTA Tours:
“Having just got back as a hitting partner for the WTA Finals in Shenzhen, China for Simona Halep, I was invited to be a hitting partner at the ATP Finals in London at the 02. My first practice was on the first Sunday with Medvedev. I was practicing with him from the Sunday to Wednesday which was such a good experience as he’s arguably been the best player in the world over the summer, having practiced with him a lot at Wimbledon, it was amazing to see how much he had improved over such a short period. I then had the opportunity to practice with Tsitsipas on the Wednesday & Thursday for the first time. It was a good few days for me as his team was really welcoming & I learned a lot of Patrick Mouratoglou, his coach. I was then asked to be a hitting partner for Federer from Wednesday for the rest of the tournament. It was a proud moment as he’s been my idol frowning up so being able to spend time with him & his team for 4 days or so both on and of the court was amazing. We had a few practices together as well as a match warm up on Centre court at the 02. It’s been an amazing week & ive learnt a lot from some top players. I’m looking forward to next season where I hope to start in Dubai with Halep & then the Australian Open as a hitting partner for the tournament”
Click here to see Digby warm up Tsitsipas
