Local Tennis Leagues The UK home of local park tennis since 2005

Round Eight

Monday 23 May to Sunday 17th July 2011 

With Wimbledon a distant memory and the US Open still weeks away, what better time than to announce the winners of the Bishops Park league!

All in all it has been a good round, with 8 players earning their bonus points and free tennis balls and there were some very close matches - with plenty of three-setters and tie breaks to keep things exciting! However, the league has clearly had a curse put on it as well, with unfortunately five players having to withdraw! There was also a league first... see the Group Three report!

Thank you all for supporting the league. We are as ever very grateful for the hard work you put in scheduling your matches and for your efforts on court. Without you, it would be nothing - with you Bishops Park League is part of a growing grass roots project that is helping people play more tennis in more and more places.

GROUP ONE
Winner: Jeremy Cooper
Group one had its fair share of bad luck, with two players being forced to withdraw. This meant that only 8 matches were completed, and just one player claimed bonus points. However, Jeremy is a very worthy winner, having won all four of his matches. Harry gave him a good test, taking him to a tie-break in the second set, but it was Chirag who gave Jeremy the most problems:

"Two and a half hours of BIG hitting. Great match that could easily have gone the other way. Massive respect to Chriag for playing fearless tennis. I might be able to walk by the weekend!"

Chirag ends the round as runner-up having won against Harry and tied at 1-set all with Steffen. Steffen, who finished in third, said of his match against Harry:

"It was a hard and tight game, very long (over 2 hours) and with a little injury to myself (slipped and bruised my elbow and hand). I was 4-1 up in the second set but then Harry improved his serve to make it 5-5, but in the final games I became a bit more focused."

This was the only match Steffen managed to complete, but there is a very good reason for that as he told us:

"Sorry that I am not playing that much at the moment but my son Nicholas was born two weeks ago and I am a bit busy!"

Congratulations, therefore, are in order to Steffen, and of course our group winner Jeremy who has made a seamless step up from group 2 to take his second title in a row!

GROUP TWO
Winner: Matthew Moore
Group two also had its share of scheduling problems, with just 5 matches completed! Three of these were won by Matthew, which makes him a clear winner on 8 points - and all that without dropping a set either. Behind Matthew were three players on two points each. Richard beat Sam in an exciting three-setter, while Sam's unfinished match with Steven was poised tantalisingly at 6-6 in the second set. Steven also had a good match with Anna, commenting:

"Some good rallies on a glorious summer's day, very enjoyable."

With two players unable to schedule any matches, and only one player claiming his bonus points, this group feels somewhat incomplete at the end of the round. Hopefully the next round will see more activity, but for now well done to Matthew on an excellent performance!

GROUP THREE
Winner: David Burns

Group three was incredibly busy throughout, with 16 matches completed, and there would undoubtedly have been more but for John's unfortunate withdrawal. The battle at the top went right to the wire, with David just pipping Brian by a point. In the showdown between the two, Brian beat David in a thrilling three-setter but David's bonus points tipped the balance at the end of the round. This goes to show the importance of pro-active scheduling but it is not an uncontroversial state of affairs...

To our knowledge this is the first time that a player who has played and won all their matches has been beaten to the top spot by a player who earned bonus points and a point from a set won in a match they lost.

In recognition of this, we are introducing a new league prize. Perhaps, if Brian doesn't mind, it will be be known as "Doing a Downey", but now any player who wins all his matches but fails to win the group, wins a special certificate and a pair of our much-prized Thorlo socks.

But let's not forget David who is a worthy winner of the group, having won his other four matches without dropping a set. Brian won all five matches, but was pushed hard by Thomas (three sets) and Ben (two tie-break sets). He also reported on his match against Sophie:

"Sophie can clearly play the game and plays some good-looking shots, just needs to play more regularly to get her consistency sorted so certainly shouldn't be disheartened by this."

Elsewhere, Sophie had an incredible match with Thomas, winning 7-6 in the third set, while Ben commented on his win over Thomas:

"I'll second the comment on Thomas's use of devilish spin, and the match was closer than the score would suggest. Lots of games went to deuce. A good game."

Overall, a fantastic group, and a big thank you to everyone for their scheduling efforts. Congratulations again to David on his win!

GROUP FOUR
Winner: Chris Kalavrytinos
Group four is won by Chris, who was victorious in three of his four matches, and didn't drop a set in any of these wins. Christopher finishes as runner-up after he withdrew from the group, although he won all three of his matches. Elsewhere Jacobo edged out Marcus in an exciting three-setter, and match of the round has to be between Mark and Marcus - Mark winning in the third set, on a tie-break! Although there were two withdrawals in this group, you managed to complete 10 matches between you, a very good effort. Well done again to Chris on his win, and we hope to see you all again next time!

The midway point for 2 bonus points and a FREE set of tennis balls: Sunday 19th June 

To report results and scores, email  bishopsparktennisleague@gmail.com

Please do send match commentaries too - we may quote from them in our emailed round updates.
To make input easier our end, please use the format: John McEnroe bt Bjorn Borg (Feb 21) 6-2, 4-6, 6-2. Thanks!
W=won, L=lost, UF=unfinished