Thursday evening continued in the same vein as previous nights – good weather, delicious food and some great tennis.

First up was Ladies Singles between Lisa Morgan and Maeve Stapleton. Both ladies played an exciting and close match but unfortunately Lisa had to retire in the third set.

Also playing in the earlier shift was an exciting 3 setter between Stephen and Mark Gill and Simon Hugh-Jones & Peter McCartney. Father and son team prevailed, winning in three sets, and leaving Mark nicely warmed up for his next match against the very experienced Iain Walker.

This singles game was another hard-fought battle. Having already dispatched one youngster the previous night, Iain had his work cut out against Mark. Lots of long rallies, some impressive drop shots and the occasional sneaky underarm second serve impressed the balcony. This was a lovely game to watch and, in the end, it went Mark’s way with a close score line of 6-5 / 4-6 / 6-3.

Meanwhile Caroline Grant and Anne-Marie Murphy were taking on Fiona O’Reilly and Barbara Smyth – this match went on for quite a while and included a court change. In the end Caroline and Anne-Marie won in two sets and now go through to the Semi Finals taking place this evening.

Playing at the same time on Court 1 were Frank MCooey and Ian Brady. Ian was nicely warmed up having come from the Carrickmines Open and both men provided plenty of thrills. In the end Ian won in two sets and now goes through to the Semi Finals this evening.

Speaking of warm-ups, Leo Blennerhassett and James O’Sullivan were so excited about playing John Quinn and Greg McDowell that they came down at 6.30pm to get some pre-match play in. When the game did begin at 8pm, John and Greg took an early 3-0 lead before being quickly reeled in by some fine play from James and Leo. However, it wasn’t to be, and after two very tight sets, John and Greg came through. They now meet Mr O’Hagan and compatriot Mr Keane in the Semi-Final – fireworks are expected!

Complementing the tennis was a very merry atmosphere in the club helped by the fabulous food kindly provided by Jeanne Hecksher Doyle and Lesley Goulding.

More to come this evening and tomorrow. Semi Finals start this evening at 6.30pm with Finals taking place tomorrow afternoon.

Your Captains.