Steep Learning Curve for Andover Duo

Andover U14 boys (Isaac Robinson and Leo Crewell) lost away fixture to Steep on Sunday 29th May.

In singles, Isaac played 2x 1hour sets against the Steep number one winning 7-5 3-6 (7-10 tie break). A match with long forehand and backhand rallies from the baseline and few errors. Leo fought hard against the Steep number two, reaching some hard fought deuces and showing nice touches, losing

6-1, 6-1 but gaining good match-play experience. The deciding doubles went to the home pair with targeted returns and winners, Andover losing 6-0, 6-1 and 2-1 overall. Well done boys!

A big thank you to Keith, Team Captain for the supporting the boys.

Play Your Way to Wimbledon 2022

The Club recently hosted our annual Play Your Way to Wimbledon Tournament (formerly known as the Road to Wimbledon Tournament).

Congratulations to our ‘Singles’ and ‘Doubles’ winners and runner-ups. All now progress to the County Finals with an opportunity to progress through to the National Finals held at The All England Club, Wimbledon.

Well done to all of the competitors, who played brilliantly throughout the tournament.

Plus, a big thank you to Joe (Head Coach) for organising and referring the event.

Girls Singles Players - Winner – Victoria. Runner-up - Karolina

Boys Singles Finalists - Winner – Isaac. Runner-up - Monty

Boys Doubles Finalists - Winners - Charlie & Jude. Runner-ups - Isaac and Monty

Captain, Jennie has a busy start to the Tennis season

he Andover Lawn Tennis Club’s Ladies team was keen to do well in their match at Portswood’s leafy garden courts in Southampton. The team are playing in Division 3B of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight League and had lost their first match at home against Winchester B.

The match was evenly balanced, with games closer than scores would suggest. Many Deuce games were played.

 First pair Flavia Zamfir and Jennie Pope beat the opposition first pair 6-1, 6-2 and the second pair 6-0, 6-0. Flavia is a Hampshire junior and her game gets better all the time. Her strong, accurate volleying was a major factor in their wins.

 Second pair Louise and Jenny worked hard, with Louise making several down the line winners. The deuce games went Portswood’s way, however and they lost 0-6, 2-6 against the first pair and 3-6, 2-6 against the seconds.

The value of those hard earned games was shown when, with rounds and sets equal, Andover gained the win on games won.

Juniors in action again in the LTA National League ...

A successful first home fixture of the season for Andover Boys U14 H&IOW Div. 2. Both Monty and Isaac won their singles matches. Isaac winning a competitive hard fought encounter against the Avondale No1 in a tie break. Monty winning in straight sets against the Avondale No.2, showing good composure and net-play. The Andover pair won both doubles sets in style proving too strong for the visitors. An overall score of 5-1 for the home team. Well done boys and a big thank to Keith for being team manager.

U16 Hants & IOW home fixture V's Active Aces. Charlie played the Active Aces number 1 winning 6-3, 6-4 combining strong serve and powerful ground strokes from the baseline. Ned played very well against the No.2 from Active, with the visitor having a significant age and experience advantage over the debutante. Result 0-6, 0-6. The Andover pair began the doubles encounter strongly with good returning from Charlie and disruptive lobbing from Ned. They eventually lost 3-6, and 0-6 in doubles and 2-6 overall to the experienced pair from Active Aces.


The Wingfield Tournament - the first tournament of 2022

On a day which started wet, members at Andover Lawn Tennis Club took part in the Wingfield Tournament at Balksbury.

 It looked as if the whole event would have to be played indoors but the weather improved and was near perfect for tennis outside by the time the final was played.

 The Wingfield is Andover’s oldest trophy and celebrates the invention of the modern game in 1874 by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield, oddly, in an hour glass shaped court…which was soon changed. It was promoted in a commercial kit and designed for play on croquet lawns by men and women.

 Fortunately we can all have access to Lawn Tennis now and an enjoyable afternoon was enjoyed by all, helped along by tea, coffee and cake.

Preliminary Round Robins were held and the top two pairs from each group were promoted to the semi-finals. All games were played on a sliding handicap system. This is a great leveller and all matches played were close.


In one semi-final, Ben Haley and Claire Thain narrowly defeated Adrian Shapter and Claire Reid.

In the other semi-final Reece Simpson and Louise Martin edged past John Snowden and Caroline Rowlands.

 

The Final was enjoyed by the spectators. There were close fought games but Reece’s consistency and power and Louise’s agility and determination saw them through.  This was a first win for both of them and the first time the tournament has been played for several years.

Before the Tournament started, Claire Reid, on behalf of the committee, presented Anne Brooks of the Andover Food Bank with a £250 cheque and Boxes of food. The food bank is the club’s nominated charity this year.

First fixtures of the Summer season for the Junior teams...

The first Junior fixtures of the season in the 2022 LTA National Junior League took place this weekend.

In the 12 and under category, Henry and Tristan played against Hale Gardens at a home fixture. The boys played well but on the day the opposition were the stronger team. Well done Henry and Tristan. Also, a big thank you to Mark for being Team Captain.

In the 16 and under category, Isaac and Hari travelled to Elite Tennis in Southampton.

The boys had a tough day on the artificial grass in the swirling wind. Despite a good early start in the doubles, first set going ahead 1-2 they succumbed to the home pair having played together since the age of 8 years old. Overall, some vital experience gained but a good effort from both boys. Thank you to Keith for being the Team Captain.

ALTC Ladies Team Enjoy a good Win at Balksbury

On a fine January day at Balksbury, the Andover Ladies Team took on Beechdown, one of the stronger Clubs in the Basingstoke League.

Claire reported that a fun afternoon’s tennis was had by all. The Andover team were in great spirits and with one win and two losses this season, were determined to get a good result.  

Flavia and Claire played a solid game, covering the court well and playing an attacking game which unsettled their opponents. Flavia’s accurate and powerful ground strokes won many points and Claire’s consistency also helped. They won 6-2, 6-0 and 6-0, 6-1.

Rowena and Sophie were disappointed to lose the first match they played, but dug in, showing determination and will power to gain both sets in their second match.

They lost 5-7, 0-6 and won 6-4, 6-1.

This was a well-deserved 6-2 win overall and should mean they are safe in their Division.

Welcome back to Doubles and Singles leagues ....

Interested in some Doubles/Singles Competition?  After the last successful leagues, let's do it again!

You can choose your own partner or if you don't have one we can match you up with someone, or if you would rather play singles then you are all set to play.  If you have the time then you can do both.

We will decide on the size of the league once we have numbers.  There will be 3 categories of leagues - Ladies, Mixed and Mens!

Key Features

  1. Open to all club members.

  2. Format will be Fast4 - First to 4 games, tie break to 7 at 3-3. If its 1 set all then 10 point match tie break. Sudden death deuce.

  3. WhatsApp group to organise your matches.

  4. The leagues will be run through the LTA website (details to follow but you will require an LTA login)

  5. Length of the season will be decided by the number of entrants but will typically be no more than 6 weeks.

  6. Matches will be played within an hour's session.


If you are interested then please contact Mark Williams - markwilliams@malkie.plus.com with your phone number and email address

All people that are interested could you provide your name/s by the 4th February 2022 to be included.

Rules:

1. You will organise your own games through the WhatsApp Groups that I will set up. (please text me your numbers so that I can add you - 07976893637)

2. Provide your own balls for each of the games

3. The match will be over two sets and will move into a 3rd set tie break set if drawn.

4. Scoring will be 4 for a win, 1 for a loss and 1 extra point for each set won e.g mark beats Trevor 2 sets to 1 - Mark gets 6 points, Trevor 2

5. The winners will ensure that the scores are input (they will be available for each league through the LTA website - details to follow)

6. The Leagues will be smaller and run for a short number of weeks after which winners will go up a league and losers will go down a league- mens, ladies and mixed.

7. Unfortunately no courts can be booked outside of the normal booking method and all courts will be charged at the published rates.

8. Most Importantly please ensure that you adhere to the clubs/LTA social distancing policy and procedures.

9. Have Fun!

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