The competitive season at RPLTC is now well underway with our first finals day of the year taking place on Sunday 11th May.
The day started with defending champion Simon Foster battling against doubles partner and previous singles champion Bill Austin: despite having a doubles final to play afterwards, both men put in maximum effort, with Simon eventually taking the win. Defending champion Mars Hatari also retained her trophy for the second year running, despite a strong performance from Karen Watson.
After a short break, Bill & Simon returned to the court on the same side of the net, taking on Duncan Hamilton & Andrew Sanders. Fresh legs won the day!
In a repeat of last year’s final, the ladies’ doubles was an even closer match than in 2024, with Kerry Johnson & Catherine Hartshorn retaining the title again after snatching the victory in the match tie-break. Following feedback from members, the change of format to introduce a match tie-break in place of a third set for the 2025 vets tournament has proved a popular decision.
The last match of the day was another nail-biter, with last year’s runners-up Duncan Hamilton and Susie Taylor taking on first-time mixed finalists Graham Burr & Magda D’Ingeo: this was a match that kept the crowd on the edge of their seats, with Duncan & Susie securing the victory in the second set tie-break.
A big thank you to everyone who helped to make the day a success: Hilary and Mars on tea duty; Clive & Hywel running the bar; Duncan, Kerry, Peter, Graham and Hilary for umpiring; and everyone who got roped in to help with the bbq! And a huge thank you to our club captain, Claire, for organising another successful tournament at RPLTC.
The next finals day will be on Sunday 13th July: this year we’ve moved our handicap tournament forward to Wimbledon men’s finals day, so we’ll be starting the finals a little earlier than usual to enable everyone to enjoy the last day of Wimbledon on the new TV.
Our friends at Active Away have kindly agreed to sponsor the 2025 Handicap Tournament, so there will be a few prizes on offer for both players and spectators! Look out for more information coming soon . . .
Results:
Simon Foster bt Bill Austin 6-3 6-4
Mars Hatari bt Karen Watson 6-3 6-0
Duncan Hamilton & Andrew Sanders bt Bill Austin & Simon Foster 6-4 6-3
Catherine Hartshorn & Kerry Johnson bt Lucy Hamilton & Susie Taylor 6-3 3-6 10-3
Duncan Hamilton & Susie Taylor bt Graham Burr & Magda D’Ingeo 7-5 7-6
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