Match Report

10th –11th January 2026 at Wellington College

In the U19 National Schools competition matches are played in groups starting with the highest handicap group playing first, and on this occasion both the winner and runner–up were being allowed to go through into the next group. Matches were played off level. Our first match saw Tabs Bridgeman v Honor Pennant both of Wellington College. Tabs raced to a 3-0 lead, but Honor managed to get back 2–3. Some lengthy rallies were played but Tabs just had that much greater control on her groundstrokes, in addition, hit some excellent length bobble serves. Tabs stayed on court to play Bonnie Tindall (Godolphin and Latymer). Both players were solid volleyers. It was a close encounter until 2–2 then Tabs surged away with continued accurate serves and good use of the side walls on difficult shots to win 8–2. Our final group match was Honor v Bonnie.  This match went 1–1, 2–2, 3–3, etc right through to 7–7. In the end, Honor took the final game. Both players had improved as the game went on and the rallies became longer with Honor hitting some lovely volleys and Bonnie becoming stronger at returning Honor’s difficult serve. Honor should have gone through as runner– up of the group, however, fortunately, from Bonnie’s point of view, it was Honor’s 18th birthday, and she had other pressing engagements to go to, so we let Bonnie go through into the next group.  

In this next group the first match was Erin Hartman (Bohunt Liphook) v Zoe Neville (Bohunt Wokingham). This was an excellent match with Zoe hitting some very accurate return of serves into the backhand corner and winning 6–2. Erin stayed on court to play Tabs. This was another exciting game with Tabs so quick about the court and getting every shot back and Erin, when given the opportunity, hitting the ball crisply into the corners, and eventually Erin winning 6–4. Bonnie then took on Tabs who was improving with every match. Despite Bonnie getting to 40-all in 4 games, Tabs won the match 6–0. Next up was Bonnie v Zoe. Bonnie put up a great fight producing much improved returns of Zoe’s tricky serves but losing 6–3. Zoe then stayed on court to play the rapidly improving Tabs.  Tabs rallied well but Zoe’s variety of serves and sharp shots into the corner resulted in a well-deserved 6–3 win for Zoe. Our last group match saw Erin v Bonnie, whilst Bonnie was managing to stay in the rallies as soon as she played a loose shot Erin tucked the ball away into a corner. Zoe won the group and Erin was runner- up with both going up into the next group. 

The first match in group 3 saw Isabella Wylie (Charterhouse) v Clemmie Batstone (Wellington). Isabella was extremely accurate off both wings hitting balls into the corner to win 6–1 and then again against Zoe Neville, 6–3. The third game saw Erin v Zoe. It was level match to start with until 2–2 then Erin had a spurt to go 4–2 up only for Zoe to serve to a great length and creep back to 4–4. Then it was Erin’s turn to serve well and take a 5–4 lead which she held onto taking the final game. Next on court was Erin v Clemmie and this was again a very close tussle. Erin took a 3–2 lead but for Clemmie to play very consistently as well as hitting several shots into the dedans and take a 5–3 lead. Erin clawed back the next two games, and it was 5–5, then deuce. An error by Erin gave Clemmie her 3rd match point when she conclusively hit the ball into the dedans to win the match.  Zoe and Clemmie were next, and this was yet again another amazing contest not knowing who was going to win until the last ball had been struck with Clemmie beating a chase of a yard with a lob into the dedans.  Our final group match was Isabella v Erin, again a lovely match with Erin being the more consistent player, winning 6–3. This result meant that we had three pairs with 2 wins and on counting who had won the most games, Erin and Isabella went through as group winner and runner – up respectively. 

The final Singles group commenced on Sunday morning, this would determine who the two finalists would be. First on court were Georgia Toosey (Wellington) v Martha Raitt, potentially the strongest girls in the group on handicap. Georgia made a quick start with strong serving and putting her double-handed backhand to good use, making winners at the base of the tambour. Martha didn’t get many opportunities to serve, and it was soon all over with Georgia winning 6-0. Next was Martha v Erin, this game was closer. First game went to 40-all with Erin just taking it beating a chase of worse than 3 yards.  Martha was taking her time to settle into the match but took the next 2 games before Erin got back to 2-2. Martha then upped her game with some impressive serving and playing to a good length and took a 5-2 lead. She won the match 6-3. Erin’s next opponent was Isabella Wylie, whom she had played and beaten the previous day. Isabella started the stronger of the two, taking a 2-0 lead. Erin won the next game with some excellent serving (2 nicks). This didn’t deter Isabella who took the next 2 games making good use of her strong forehand. Following excellent play by both players, it was Isabella who eventually won the match 6-3. Isabella stayed on court to play Georgia, the first game going to 40-all on Georgia’s serve. Isabella had to beat a chase of last gallery which she did comfortably with a hard and low return into the forehand corner. However, Georgia was not fazed by this and soon ran away with the match winning 6-1. Georgia remained on court to play Erin. Erin started well with some good serving taking a 40-0 lead. She had to beat a chase of 2 yards which she failed to do and then Georgia hit a forehand into the grille. Despite this, Erin took the first game. Both girls demonstrated some excellent railroad serving followed by strong returns across court. However, it was Georgia that got the next game at 40-all and she then went on to win the match 6-2 losing just one further game. The last game of the group featured Martha v Isabella – this was a closer game than the score suggests with both girls hitting the grille and producing some strong shots. It was Martha who came out on top winning 6-1. So, we had our finalists – Georgie v Martha.

The final was an 8-game set. Georgia got off to a good start winning the first game, but Martha struck back in the second game producing some excellent volleys and at deuce hitting a fabulous cut return of serve into Georgia’s forehand corner laying a good chase which Georgia couldn’t beat. 1-1 turned into 2-1 to Martha but Georgia wasn’t going to let Martha pull ahead. She fought back to 2-2 and then won the important 40-all point to go 3-2 up. The next game produced some strong play by Martha who pushed Georgia around the court cutting forehands into the corners. She was 40-30 up and had to beat a chase of 4 yards but Georgia managed to defend this brilliantly digging out what could have been an excellent winner by Martha into the backhand corner. Georgia won the all important 40-all point to go 4-2 up. Georgia was gaining confidence and took a 6-2 lead and then 7-3. However, Martha wasn’t giving up, she fought back producing some fabulous retrieving particularly out of the backhand corner. Georgia, meanwhile, was beginning to feel the pressure as Martha got back to 7-6. However, it was Georgia who managed to hold on and produce an ace serve to win the match 8-6.

Doubles Competition
As a result of last-minute withdrawals from this competition, the Doubles draw consisted of just one group with 3 pairs, all playing an 8-game set.  Nonetheless, the pairs playing were of a good standard, so we expected great things.  The first match featured Georgia Toosey and Clemmie Batstone v Martha Raitt and Isabella Wylie. Georgia and Clemmie got off to a fast start, taking a 3-0 lead through strong groundstrokes by both players. Despite the opposition clawing their way back to 3-3, Georgia and Clemmie re-gained control and won the match 8-3.
Next match saw Georgia and Clemmie take on Erin Hartman and Zoe Neville. It was soon apparent that Erin and Zoe were struggling against their opponents although they did put up a brave fight with both girls demonstrating their excellent groundstrokes and serving skills.  Zoe had only recently started to serve a railroad which she did with surprising strength considering her height! Georgia and Clemmie won the match 8-1.
Erin and Zoe stayed on court to play Martha and Isabella. This was a close match up until 2-2, then Martha and Isabella took control and ran out the winners 8-3.
The final was between Georgia and Clemmie v Martha and Isabella. Georgia and Clemmie raced to a 5-0 lead thanks to their strong serving and accuracy in hitting the grille. Their opponents fought back winning the next game, but it was soon apparent that Georgia and Clemmie were just too strong and won the match 8-3.

Our thanks to The Dedanists’ Foundation for their sponsorship, to Wellington College for hosting the competition, to Adam Player and Simon Roundell for marking the matches and to Alex Garside and Jill Newby for overseeing the competition.

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Hatfield played host to the LRTA High Low Doubles for the second time over the weekend and once again it was a great fun event with lots of extremely close matches and great tennis along the way.  The High Low Doubles is a unique event where the highest handicapped player is paired with the lowest handicapped player and placed in a round robin group with all matches played to 1 set off full handicap.

Day 1 sees the bulk of the group matches played and the form pair at the end of the day looked to be Hatfield’s Sarah Sullivan & RTC’s Terri Sheperdigian who were the only pair with a perfect record of 3 wins out of 3, two fairly comfortable 6/2 wins and a very hard 6/5 win over Gabrielle Smart of Paris and Christina Huntsman from Moreton Morrell.  Next best was another Hatfield/RTC partnership of Jill Akers & Peta Louise Jeffery who had managed to win 3 of their 4 matches, the only loss against Sarah & Terri but the great thing was that with 4 group matches still to be played on Sunday, all 6 pairs still had a chance of making it into the semi-final matches to be played later on Sunday.

As mentioned it was all to play for on day 2 as Hatfield’s Lis Hughes and Oratory’s Kim Walker secured their semi-final place with a win in the first match of the day and Sarah & Terri continued their ruthless run with a 6/0 win over Rhona Russell of RTC and Tabitha Jones of Cambridge, ending their chances of progressing and all but guaranteeing Sarah & Terri would finish top of the table.  The penultimate match of the group stage would end up being a test run of the first semi-final match as Jill Akers & Peta Louise Jeffery took on Gabrielle Smart & Christina Huntsman and while Jill & Peta Louise won the group match 6/4, Gabrielle & Christina managed to turn the tables in the semi-final winning 6/3 to take their place in the final after timing their run to perfection!  The final group match was textbook Real Tennis as the only unbeaten pair in the event played the only pair yet to win a match as Sarah & Terri faced Linda Fairbrother of Cambridge and Philippa Wells of Newmarket and as only seems to happen in this great game it was Linda & Philippa who won 6/4 to break their duck and inflict the first defeat of the event to Sarah & Terri.

Sarah & Terri still took their place in the semi-final against Lis Hughes & Kim Walker and sadly for Lis & Kim, the table topping pair of Sarah & Terri were back on form, taking their place in the final against Gabrielle & Christina with a 6/2 win.  The group stage match between the finalists had been a nail biting 6/5 win to Sarah & Terri so while they went in as favourites, it was expected to be a close match.  The form book went out the window at the start of the match though as Gabrielle & Christina moved into a 4/0 lead by virtue of winning 4 40 all points in a row so while the score looked one-sided, there was actually only 4 points between them.  Gradually Sarah & Terri clawed it back until at 3/4 40 all, we had what ended up being the decisive point of the match, Sarah being unable to return a tight serve from Christina to stop the rot and make it 5/3 and this time Sarah & Terri were unable to make a comeback, Gabrielle & Christina closing it out 6/3 for a well deserved win!

Well done to all the players on a fantastic weekend of tennis in which there was some excellent, incredibly close matches and numerous laughs!  Sarah & Terri both attempting to serve at the same time being a definite highlight!  Many thanks to Sarah Sullivan and Linda Fairbrother for their excellent organisation and Sarah, Steve Sullivan and Liz Fisher for providing delicious lunches both days.

Jon Dawes

There was a wonderful large entry from Wellington College in the tournament with representatives from five other schools. At this level the game is so frequently dominated by whoever gets to serve. In the first group, 12-year-old Zoe Neville (Bohunt School) sailed through the group dropping only  one game with an awesome sidewall serve. Moving up to the second group Zoe won two matches  but came across Erin Hartman (Hayling College) who was just that more experienced a player and  made sure she returned serve to get a chase and hold the serve. Erin winning a very tight match 5-2.  

In this next group Erin came through again as group winner having two very well contested matches  against Florrie Blackburn (Canford School) and Tabs Bridgeman (Wellington); both Florrie and Tabs  showing excellent footwork although inexperience with the varying angles that the game can  produce. 

The final group became an interesting affair. Riya Bharwad (Cambridge College of Science and  Technology) came out of the blocks flying against Rose Kay (Colyton Grammar School) with some  awesome spinning serves and beautiful return of serves into the corners, winning 5 – 0. Rose got her  timing going in the next match and beat Tabs 5 – 1. Tabs then took on Riya and playing superbly,  getting every ball back and volleying beautifully, winning 5 – 3. This left the last match in the group  Rose v Erin to decide who would go through to the final. It was a close game even though the score  didn’t reflect it, with Erin getting to deuce several times but failing to win the vital point with Rose  winning 5 – 0. 

So, the final was Rose v Riya. Rose got off to a good 2 -0 start with some lovely volleys. It was soon  back to 2 all then 3 all. Rose started creeping ahead 5 – 3, winning a vital game to take her to 6 – 3, getting every ball back and punishing any slightly loose serve to at least chase 3 yards, if not better.  Riya couldn’t quite find the super length and spin on her serves that she had used so effectively in  their group match. Rose showed great determination in not being put off by her loss to Riya in her  group match taking the final two games and the match 8 – 3. This was a really close match won by  

Rose rather than lost by Riya, with many games going to deuce and you were not sure of the final  outcome until the last point had been won. 

The doubles final was a seesaw affair with Welington pair underdogs Tabs and Florence getting off to  a cracking start with some super serving and a 2 – 0 lead. Erin and Rose had teamed up and  overcame their initial slow start and came back to 2 – 2, then it was 3 – 3. At this point Rose and Erin  relaxed a little, played consistently and served to a very good length and marched through to an 8 – 3  win.  

In all the groups the players noticeably improved through playing matches. 

Our thanks go to the The Dedanists’ Society for sponsoring the tournament, Wellington College for  allowing us to play the competition at their school and in particular Simon Roundell who marked the  matches throughout the day. 

Jill Newby

Singles 

We had eleven players enter the tournament from 5 different schools. Winners and runners  up of the groups would go into the group above. In the first group of four players there was  only a seven points difference between all the players. As the girls settled into playing, the  rallies became longer. The last match of the group, Alice v Erin would decide who would go  through as group winner. It was a close contest, both players have improved especially with  their ability to return serve. In the end Alice came through 6-3. 

The first match of Group 2 between Isabella v Alice was an amazing match. Playing first to 8  games, it went game for game until 6-6 with both girls hitting some good length serves and  Alice in particular some nice shots into the corners. Eventually, Isabella pulled through  making slightly fewer errors than Alice just in the last two games plus 3 shots into the  Dedans! Isabella then had to play Erin which was another close match with lots of deuces.  The final match, Erin v Alice was yet another tight game with Alice coming through 8-5  through tighter shots hit into the corners of the court. 

Isabella and Alice joined Clemmie and Martha in Group 3. The first match featured Martha  against Clemmie. Martha stormed into a 3-0 lead with some strong overarm serving and although Clemmie managed to win the fourth game, Martha proved just too strong winning  the match 6-1. Martha then went on to just concede a total of 3 games against her two  remaining opponents – her strength of shot together with a glorious double-handed  backhand proving just too much for them. Martha proceeded into Group 4 as the winner. 

Martha joined Katherine, Georgia and Lydia in Group 4. Just as Martha had achieved in  Group 3, Katherine dominated this Group by winning all her matches conceding just 4  games. The scores certainly didn’t reflect the closeness of the games, all girls demonstrating  excellent volleying skills along with cut shots into the corners. The improvement they have  all made since last year was clearly evident. The runner-up of the Group was Lydia which  meant she progressed into the final with Katherine. 

The final was an eight-game set between Katherine and Lydia. Katherine started out the  stronger going 40-15 up. Lydia then laid a chase of better than one-yard which Katherine  couldn’t beat, making it 30-40. Unfortunately, Lydia lost the next point giving the game to  Katherine. In the second game, Katherine surprisingly made hard work of it by doing two  double faults, one when defending a chase of better than 6. This game went to 40 all and  one point which Lydia took, making it 1-1. Both girls were hitting the ball at a good pace into  the corners and served and volleyed well but it was Katherine who went on to take the match 8-1. An excellent final which again didn’t reflect the closeness of the games! 

Doubles 

In the first of our group matches Martha and Isabella took on the experienced Lydia and  Katherine. Martha and Isabella hit some lovely volleys and Martha hit some excellent serves  but Lydia and Katherine would come back with a great length shot winning 8-0. Martha and  Isabella then proved much too strong and consistent for Alice and Diya winning 8-0. Alice  and Diya then had to play the might of Lydia and Katherine. They came second but this time  they got a game. All played in a great spirit. 

To the final. Had Isabella and Martha learnt from their first encounter with Lydia and  Katherine. It was an excellent and entertaining match. Isabella and Martha were much more  aggressive and attacking on this occasion which caused more mistakes to come from Lydia  and Katherine. However, Lydia and Katherine are extremely good at returning the ball to a  great length and width off any loose serve, consequently gaining good chases and keeping  the serving end. The final score was 8-3 to Lydia and Katherine. 

A big thank you to Dan and Adam for marking the matches and to Wellington for hosting the  competition and for supplying the prizes and delicious sandwiches. Our thanks also to Alex  and Jill for overseeing the competition and to The Dedanists’ Society for jointly sponsoring  the competition with the LRTA. 

Jill Newby and Alex Garside

Congratulations to the winners and finalists of the Girls U21 Handicap Singles 2024!

Match report

What a fascinating tournament it turned out to be. Once again, we ran the tournament on a group basis,
starting with the highest handicaps first, with the group winner moving into the group above. Most of our
entrants had played in the tournament before so it be interesting to see how much they had improved having
benefitted from a year’s further experience and in some cases LRTA/Dedanists coaching.

As always at this level, the game is dominated by keeping the serve and serving to a consistent good length.
Our youngest competitor was 11 years old Zoe Neville (Wellington), with a lawn tennis background, she showed
considerable talent after only playing for a few weeks, moving about the court well, happy to play forehands
and backhands, as well as going for volleys off the return of serve. Whilst she didn’t win any matches Zoe grew
with experience and only lost 6 -5 to Hilary in her last match. Hilary Hawthorne (Oxford University) had only
picked up a racket in the summer holidays and to start with she rushed her shots but by the third match found
the length of her bobble serve, stopped rushing her shots and began to gently place the ball into the backhand
corner, bringing off a good win against Erin Hartman (Seacourt). Erin hits the ball beautifully off the backwall
and returned some exceptionally difficult serves when playing against Alice Dyer (Wellington). The last match
of the day, Alice versus Daisy Clifford (Oratory) would decide who would go through as the group winner. Both
players attack any loose ball well, particularly to the base of the tambour. It was a very close match but Daisy
crept away at 3 – 3 with some superb serves that had a spiteful kick, to win 6 – 3. However, as there had been
a withdrawal from the next group, Alice coming 2nd in Group 1, was able to go through as runner – up.

Unfortunately, overnight Alice picked up a bug and had to withdraw leaving the group with only 3 players. In
the first match Daisy played Isabella Wylie (Queens Club). Daisy continued to serve brilliantly and though
Isabella began to work out how to cope with the serve many of these returns went down the middle of the
court for Daisy to finish off the point at the base of the tambour, ultimately taking the match 8 – 4. Daisy then
stayed on court to play Rose Kay (The Hyde). There was a huge handicap difference with Rose giving 16 points.
Rose played extremely well, steadily placing the ball into the corners, so many times she clawed her way back
to 40 all but was denied winning the game. Rose had the better ground strokes but Daisy had the better serve
which resulted in an 8 – 2 win. Rose then played Isabella where there was only 11 points difference. Rose
continued to hit the ball beautifully into the corners, gaining the serve. Unfortunately, she couldn’t get a good
length on her own serve and Isabella hit some very attacking shots forcing Rose to make unforced errors. So,
Daisy went through as group winner.

We then had a call from Martha who had become stuck on the M25 so Isabella took the opportunity to step
into her place and have some more tennis. Lydia Compton – Burnett and Georgia Toosey both from Wellington
were in this group and would have to give 16 – 20 points away to Daisy and Bella, two players who also had the
advantage of already playing on the court! Lydia played Isabella first and couldn’t get into a rhythm going 5 –
2 down, she settled down hitting well into the corners and crept back to 4 – 5 only to make an unforced error
and for Isabella hit a nick serve taking the set 6 – 4. Georgia took on Daisy and was giving her 20 points! Georgia
played well, hitting some cracking volleys but Daisy’s accurate serves just gave her the edge, winning 6 – 3.
Lydia v Georgia was a stunning match. Georgia was giving Lydia 3 points handicap. Both players are wonderfully
quick around the court and retrieved the ball beautifully. Georgia made a few unforced errors, Lydia kept her
cool throughout so winning 6 – 0, nowhere near a true reflection of the game. Daisy again beat Isabella and
served well in addition to receiving 16 points when playing Lydia. Georgia played consistently against Isabella
and climbed back to 40 all in many games but lose that final point, eventually losing 6 – 2.

So, our finalists were Daisy v Isabella. Isabella would be giving Daisy 15 every game. Isabella’s steadiness took
her to a 4 – 2 lead but Daisy crept back to 4 – 4 with some great retrieving. Isabella went into the zone making
no mistakes. Daisy lost some of the edge to her up until then lethal serve and Isabella coming out on top
winning 8 – 4. Both players had improved their play enormously since the start of the day and were worthy
finalists.

Our thanks to The Dedanists’ Foundation for their sponsorship, Radley College and Alex and Archie for marking
throughout the weekend.

The finalists, Daisy on left and Bella on right.  Group photo (left to right) with Georgia, Daisy, Lydia and Bella.

Results

LRTA 2021 Hcaps Report