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Collapse AllBedford Singles - Round 25 | Thursday 30 August 2018 to Wednesday 24 October 2018 (Midpoint: Wednesday 26 September 2018)

It was another brilliant round in Bedford Tennis League with lots of matches played in both groups and some fantastically close contests! In fact over 70% of matches were played and both groups were keenly contested with just the odd point separating players at the top. Great commitment from everyone and lots of match commentaries too, so keep up the good work in the next round!

Group Summary:

It was very close at the top of Group 1 with 3 players tied on 5 wins and one defeat, however reigning champion Ricardas pipped Stephen and Ivaylo to the post by one point by virtue of winning an extra set. Ivaylo has the bragging rights of being the only player to defeat Ricardas in a tough 3 setter, and credit goes to all of you for getting so many matches played and each earning the midway bonus points for early match scheduling. All in all a strong group!

Final Rankings:

Pos. Name Played P Won W Lost L Bonus BNS Total PTS Form
1 Ricardas Lisovskis 6 5 1 2 13 WWWW
2 Stephen Stewart 6 5 1 2 12 LWWW
3 Ivaylo Zahariev 6 5 1 2 12 WWWW
4 John Harrison 7 2 5 2 9 LWLL
5 Darren Kent 6 2 4 2 8 WWLL
6 Krzysztof Partyka 6 2 4 2 8 LLWL
7 Ian Holoweckyj 3 2 1 2 7 LWW
8 Tony Fowkes 6 0 6 2 3 LLLL

Match Results:

Reveal CommentDarren Kent bt Krzysztof Partyka (Oct 20) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4

Player Comments:

  • "Always good to play Krys. Both hit the ball well and produced some decent rallies. Shame about the ‘coaching’ on the next court, kids climbing the fences and running around screaming isn’t going to produce another Andy Murray! Hope to play you soon Krys"  -- Darren
Ricardas Lisovskis bt Krzysztof Partyka (Oct 7) 6-3, 6-1
Ricardas Lisovskis bt Stephen Stewart (Oct 5) 6-1, 6-4
Reveal CommentDarren Kent bt Tony Fowkes (Sep 30) 6-3, 6-1

Player Comments:

  • "Always nice to play tony. Really enjoyed the Astrocourts on offer from tony. Hope the injury heals well soon so we can see you back playing well again "  -- Darren
Reveal CommentKrzysztof Partyka bt John Harrison (Sep 30) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3

Player Comments:

  • "One more great game with John on a good Sunday morning! First serve surprisingly went well for me but John came back strong in the 2nd. Game reached the breaking point at 3:3 in the last set when with a bit of luck, this time on my side, I have managed to swing it to 6-3/. Some good rallies with both of us aggressively trying to attack at the net. Thank you John. I am looking forward to our next game! "  -- Krzysztof
Reveal CommentJohn Harrison bt Tony Fowkes (Sep 28) 6-0, 6-4

Player Comments:

  • "As always an enjoyable game with Tony. "  -- John
Reveal CommentStephen Stewart bt Darren Kent (Sep 23) 1-6, 6-1, 6-4

Player Comments:

  • "A great match! Darren had a blistering forehand which hit countless winners. Could have gone either way. Thanks Darren !"  -- Stephen
Reveal CommentIvaylo Zahariev bt Ian Holoweckyj (Sep 23) 3-6, 6-4, 6-2

Player Comments:

  • "What a match!!It had everything,wind,sunshine,excellent rallies,short 1-2 swings,superb net play,ATP1000-worthy passing shots,car nearly locked in in a parking space....At the start of the match we both made a couple of sloppy errors but after that Ian eased into the set much more quickly and was able to break my serve then hold his own comfortably to take it 6-3.At the start of the second we both were going at max capacity and after some excellent play by Ian,he found himself up 4-1.At that point I decided to go for broke and am thankful that it paid off,managing to come back and take it 6-4.The third set could have gone either way really,so I guess luck was slightly more on my side for that set.Good luck in your other matches Ian."  -- Ivaylo
Reveal CommentIvaylo Zahariev bt Darren Kent (Sep 22) 6-1, 6-2

Player Comments:

  • "A nice match played on a lovely Saturday morning without any wind or rain, only coldness. It was one of those matches where there was one too many errors from one player and almost everything going in from the other player. We both were not on our A game, we struggled to get first serves in and gave the other player too much chances to get ahead in games. This meant there was a lot of opportunities both in return of second serve and during rallies to get ahead but I believe the key difference between us was that I was able to capitalise more on the opportunities I was given. Good luck Darren for the remainder of your matches. "  -- Ivaylo
Reveal CommentIvaylo Zahariev bt John Harrison (Sep 21) 6-0, 6-2

Player Comments:

  • "It was one of those matches where everything went in for one player and everything was not quite working for the other. I was lucky John's first serves were not going in as they can be devastating on the astroturf on which we played. This meant I had a lot of opportunities on his second serves which I was able to capitalise on. We played a third set as well with John taking it 6-3, so the score could have been different had that third set been second. "  -- Ivaylo
Ricardas Lisovskis bt Tony Fowkes (Sep 16) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
Ian Holoweckyj bt John Harrison (Sep 16) 6-2, 4-6, 7-6
Ricardas Lisovskis bt Darren Kent (Sep 15) 7-5, 7-5
Reveal CommentIan Holoweckyj bt Tony Fowkes (Sep 15) 6-2, 7-5

Player Comments:

  • "Always a pleasure matches with Tony; although this one perhaps lacking the usual intensity as niggling injuries continue to prevail. 2nd set was full of verbal 'oohs and aahs' - reminiscent of Sharapova in her prime.... only they were related to shoulder and foot spasms instead of roaring down-the-line-back-hand-winners! Glad to see out a tighter 2nd set, wasn't much in it towards the end."  -- Ian
Reveal CommentIvaylo Zahariev bt Krzysztof Partyka (Sep 15) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3

Player Comments:

  • "Played on a lovely Saturday morning in Mowsbury park with a lot of people out in the park also enjoying the good weather. First set saw me take the lead from the get go and it seemed like every shot was going in. Second set, Krys came back strong, holding his service games comfortably and forcing me to do the same which I was unable to do and suddenly we were a set a piece. At the start of the third I once more managed to take a comfortable lead, but Krys had other ideas and I soon saw myself at break point at 4-2. Thankfully I somehow managed to hold that service game before both of us holding serve and finishing at 6-3. It was a pleasure playing Krys again, good luck with your other matches :) "  -- Ivaylo
Reveal CommentKrzysztof Partyka bt Tony Fowkes (Sep 12) 6-3, 6-2

Player Comments:

  • "One more enjoyable and competitive game with Tony who despite an arm injury played well and gave us both a good run. At the end we've played one more set of 'killer tennis' which is great fun . Thanks Tony and I hope your arm will get better! "  -- Krzysztof
Reveal CommentIvaylo Zahariev bt Ricardas Lisovskis (Sep 11) 6-2, 0-6, 7-5

Player Comments:

  • "A very tough and hard-fought match played in the morning in windy conditions. In the first two sets the momentum swung from Ivo in the first set to Ricardas in the second set. Both of us had high amount of winners and unforced errors and there was quite a few points with some excellent rallies, where we would switch from offence to defence to offence back and forth. Third set would see both of us locked in constant break of serve situation. In the end, at 6-5 with a break of serve for me and looking like the set would go into a tiebreak, the difference that sealed the 7-5 win was only one or two exchanges going in my favour. Good luck with your other matches Ricardas and looking forward to our next encounter. "  -- Ivaylo
Reveal CommentStephen Stewart bt Ivaylo Zahariev (Sep 9) 7-6 (7-4), 6-0

Player Comments:

  • "Great seeing Ivo again. The first set could have easily gone to Ivo with major gusts of wind causing swings in momentum. Best of luck for the rest of your matches Ivo!"  -- Stephen

Match of the Group:

Reveal CommentJohn Harrison bt Darren Kent (Sep 9) 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5

Player Comments:

  • "This match was played on a dry but stormy feeling morning in Allen Park. Of all the players I have come across Darren has one of the most devastating selection of ground strokes; and in the first set I was completely blown off the court by fast, penetrating and accurate shots. As we moved to the second set, the increasing wind started to make a real impact on our styles of play (NB: as a footnote...Allen Park must rank as one of the windiest tennis courts in England!) and certainly gave me the opportunity of a foothold in the match. The remaining sets were close, but with the wind running down the court meant that the wind impacted Darren's shot length more than mine. I managed to pip the win but Darren was by far the better player!"  -- John
Ricardas Lisovskis bt John Harrison (Sep 7) 6-2, 7-5
Reveal CommentStephen Stewart bt Tony Fowkes (Sep 5) 6-2, 6-0

Player Comments:

  • "Always a pleasure playing Tony , today luck was on my side. All the best for the rest of your matches Tony !"  -- Stephen
Reveal CommentStephen Stewart bt John Harrison (Sep 2) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3

Player Comments:

  • "Another epic contest. Momentum and temperature played a huge factor in this contest , with long rallies and both players having swings in momentum. John is a true gent and is an incredibly intelligent opponent. All the best for the rest of your matches John!"  -- Stephen
Reveal CommentStephen Stewart bt Krzysztof Partyka (Aug 31) 6-3, 2-6, 7-5

Player Comments:

  • "What a match! , neck and neck and could have gone either way. Krys was a handful with a big forehand and serve with epic rallies pushing both of us to the limit. Best of luck for the rest of your matches Krys!"  -- Stephen

Group Summary:

There were some nailbiters in this group with 3 matches going to tiebreaks and 2 of these having tiebreaks in both sets! Ben showed steady nerves to come out victor twice but the group crown goes to Cem for winning 3 matches and securing the midway bonus points for early match scheduling to take him 2 points clear of runner up David. Kudos to David and Stefanos for winning 4 matches each, and the leaderboard could have been different had they earned the midway bonus points!

Final Rankings:

Pos. Name Played P Won W Lost L Bonus BNS Total PTS Form
1 Cem Cakir 5 3 2 2 10 WLWW
2 David Whitmore 4 4 0 0 8 WWWW
3 Stefanos Efthimiou 5 4 1 0 8 WWWL
4 John Finn 6 3 3 2 8 WLWW
5 Ben Friman 5 2 3 2 6 LLLW
6 Tim Johns 5 0 5 2 3 LLLL
7 Julie Minter 1 1 0 0 2 W
8 Martin Copland 3 0 3 0 0 LLL

Match Results:

Cem Cakir bt Martin Copland (Oct 23) 6-4, 6-4
John Finn bt Ben Friman (Oct 21) 6-0, 6-4
Stefanos Efthimiou bt Tim Johns (Oct 13) 6-0, 6-1
Stefanos Efthimiou bt John Finn (Oct 11) 6-0, 7-5
Stefanos Efthimiou bt Cem Cakir (Oct 8) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
Reveal CommentDavid Whitmore bt Stefanos Efthimiou (Oct 7) 6-3, 6-3

Player Comments:

  • "Very good match"  -- David
Reveal CommentDavid Whitmore bt Ben Friman (Oct 6) 6-1, 6-1

Player Comments:

  • "Good match considering the weather"  -- David
Cem Cakir bt Tim Johns (Sep 26) 6-3, 6-1
John Finn bt Martin Copland (Sep 26) 6-2, 6-4
John Finn bt Tim Johns (Sep 24) 7-5, 4-6, 6-3
Stefanos Efthimiou bt Ben Friman (Sep 22) 6-1, 6-2
Reveal CommentDavid Whitmore bt John Finn (Sep 16) 6-1, 6-0

Player Comments:

  • "Good match "  -- David
Cem Cakir bt John Finn (Sep 11) 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-0)
Reveal CommentJulie Minter bt Martin Copland (Sep 11) 6-4, 6-2

Player Comments:

  • "Jules and myself met on an overcast September day with the rain just about holding off. We played our usual close game with nothing much in it in the early exchanges before Jules powered ahead to win each set with her superior fitness! Well done Jules!"  -- Martin
Reveal CommentDavid Whitmore bt Tim Johns (Sep 9) 6-0, 6-0

Player Comments:

  • "A good match. Credit to tim his shoulder was playing up and he battle thro. "  -- David

Match of the Group:

Reveal CommentBen Friman bt Cem Cakir (Sep 5) 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-1)

Player Comments:

  • "Another great match with some twists and turns and a lot of breaks of serve. In the end, it's a game played in the head!"  -- Ben
Reveal CommentBen Friman bt Tim Johns (Sep 2) 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4)

Player Comments:

  • "An interesting match that was very very tight. Tim was a break ahead right through both sets but I managed to catch up both times to force a tie break. Much enjoyed!"  -- Ben