After receiving the accolade of ‘Club of the Year’ from the Lawn Tennis Association earlier in the year, Marlborough Tennis Club has gone from strength to strength. On Saturday September 13th the club held its annual Club Championships – a culmination of over 160 matches played by over 80 players since June. Certificates and trophies were presented at the end of the day by club sponsor – Ed Taylor from Fine and Country.
Penny Smith, tournament organiser, wrote the following report of the day’s events:
“Despite low expectations for the weather leading up to the annual Marlborough Tennis Club Championships on Saturday 13th September, the sun shone brightly and only two brief showers stopped play.
Our lovely clubhouse provided a great location for spectators and players alike to enjoy the proceedings from the balcony with refreshments to keep up the energy, thanks to our well-established catering team. The sausage sandwiches proved a great success with afternoon teas and the prosecco bar ensuring the day was highly sociable. The use of a Marlborough Tennis ‘Club of the Year 2025’ logo provided a frame for lots of fun photographs.
Commentary was provided by Terry Blake, a voice recognizable from The Oval cricket commentary.
A variety of matches from improvers to experienced players were played, ensuring a high participation level of members and some well contested matches at all levels of play. One member, Karen Maskell, played in not one but 3 finals on the day!
Photo Credit Will Scott
In the Men’s singles, a new youngster’s name was yet again ensured on the trophy, as St John’s student Olly Flynn and Theo Harvey-Evers battled it out for the title. All points were highly contested with some breathtaking rallies, both players moving around the court at great speed to return some seemingly impossible shots. Olly, coached by Neil Watts proved to be the stronger and clinched the title with a 6-3 6-3 win. Olly has been a consistent member of the Under 18 Wiltshire County Team for the last three years.
In the Men’s Doubles a new pairing of Neil Emery and Tom Kiggell, both previous winners with different partners, came together to play against two youngsters Theo Harvey-Evers and Jack Mitchener. The match was fiercely contested and a real crowd pleaser. Tom and Neil took the first set 6-3 but in the second set the youngsters upped their game further and it came down to a nail-biting tie breaker where Theo and Jack were just pipped at the post. Final score 6-3, 7-6
The Ladies Doubles featured the number two and three seeds. There were some long and persistent rallies but in the end the winners were Louisa Mangham and Gillian Shotton, who earlier in the competition had seen off the number one seeds and defending champions Rosie Scott and Ama Harvey-Evers. Due to their excellent volleying skills, they defeated Lucy Spooner and Eddie Charlton 6-0 6-2. This is a new pairing and will add new names to the trophy.
In the annual roll-up doubles, a fun competition that often depends on the luck of the draw as partners are drawn out of a hat, Phil Ridge and Gillo Horton played some great tennis in a very close match to overcome Brian Leshnik and Mary Ellis 7-5 6-4
The Mixed Doubles was one of the final matches to be played. Four-time winners Rosie Scott and Tom Kiggell proved just too strong this time against Charlie Fraser and Gillian Shotton. The result was 6-2 6-0.
In a round up of the Plate matches:
Anne Carroll and Alice Murphy beat Karen Maskel and Fiona Slevin- Brown 6-2 6-4 in the Ladies’ Doubles Plate
Will Bott and Huw Thomas beat Ian Drew and Ian Sheppard 6-1 6-3 in a well-supported Men’s Doubles Plate
Davide Bianchi and Catherine Murphy beat George Horton and Karen Maskell 6-2 6-2 in the Roll up Doubles Plate
Jon Anstee de Mas beat St John’s student Thomas Knight in the Men’s singles consolation 6-1 6-1
Carolyn and Tim Whitrow beat Karen Maskell and Richard Pierpoint 6-3 7-5 in a closely contested Mixed Doubles Plate
In the separate Improvers tournament Dan Rogan beat Emily Scott in the Singles event final and Emily Scott and Simon Meyer beat Alice Murphy and Donald Cross in the Doubles.”
Heather and Jeremy raise over £1,000 for St George’s Preshute in ‘Ride & Stride’
