Dear Members,
We enjoyed another wonderful night of tennis last night. Court One hosted yet another doubles display when Aideen Sheehan and Karen Johnson took on the reigning champions, Sandie O’Callaghan and Sarah Emerson. Aideen and Karen came back from the dead in the first set to make it 5-5, and the following game went on for about 20 minutes, with Sarah and Sandie just clinching it. The experienced seeds commandeered the momentum then, winning through 7-5, 6-1 in the end.
Later on in the evening, we had the hotly contested doubles Lucky Dip featuring the Clash of the Captains. We are indeed sorry to report that John F. Burke and Margaret Hartnett overcame the gutsy challenge of Aileen Regan and Dermot Bennett in three exciting sets. Aileen and Dermot saved five match points before winning the second set, unfortunately this had no effect on the unshakeable Burke and unflappable Hartnett, who had been nicely warmed up by her earlier 6-2, 6-2 win with partner Andrea Begley over Ruth Milne and Natalie Flanagan in the Ladies 8Up.
It truly was a night of great doubles play. Roy Bailey and Alan Warren beat Paul Fitzgerald and Liam Hurley 7-6, 6-1 in a compelling encounter, while Oisin O’Hanlon and Harry Owens has a great match against Louis Hemeryck and Harry Wall, with Oisin and Harry edging out 6-2, 7-5.
Nothing held a candle to the intense battle on Court 3 in the ladies 8 Up, however. Over nearly three hours and playing blistering tennis, last year’s champs and rock-solid partners Liz Murphy and Yvonne Fitzsimons came back from 5-3 down in the third to pip Charlotte O’Brien and Melissa Pierce at the post, 6-1, 6-7, 7-6. A brilliant night enjoyed by the non-existent crowd. We should have live-tweeted these matches!
Tonight is semi finals night, and finals for our Handicaps. We know all our members will be cheering them on in spirit!
Please find below the order of play for tonight, and remember there are no spectators allowed, but we will fill you in tomorrow on all the excitement!