The annual tennis tournament at Rye Lawn Tennis Club took place over four days of mixed summer weather, from Friday, August 1 to Monday, August 4, with around 200 players coming together to do battle on the club’s outstanding grass courts. With gusty winds and showers on finals day, courtesy of Storm Floris, thanks go to umpires Chris Gorringe, former chief executive of the All England Club, and club chairman Jonathan Jempson, for bringing the event to a successful close early on Monday evening in front of an appreciative crowd.
In the men’s singles final, Sussex-born Tommy Bennett – a junior Wimbledon and US college player – faced New Zealander Mark Hadley, already the winner of many Rye titles. The match saw some powerful play and fierce rallying from both sides, with Bennett coming through to triumph on this occasion, depriving Hadley of another singles crown.
The two met each other again in the men’s doubles final as Hurlingham player Josh Redstone, joined Hadley to take on Bennett and Campden Hill player Ryan McElvenny from the USA. With some fearsome ground strokes and quick-fire net play, Hadley and Redstone just gained the upper hand and took the closely contested match, regaining their 2023 title.
In the ladies’ singles, Dutch player Jeltje Loomans, was pitted against Ukrainian Anastasiia Kotsyuba, both first-time visitors to Rye and both US college players. With some powerful play from both sides, Loomans came through to win the match, which started on the grass and finished on the artificial clay, thanks to the rain.
In the ladies’ doubles, Loomans teamed up with fellow US college player Hope Johnson, a member of Queen’s first team, taking on the Campden Hill pairing of Ellie Hill and Kiran Irshad. After some hard hitting and tight rallies, Loomans once again came out on top with Johnson at her side.
In the mixed doubles, singles winners Bennett and Loomans faced each other with their respective partners, Campden Hill’s Veronika Hughes and Hurlingham’s Nick Green. Playing on the artificial clay at the end of the day, Bennett was again the winner, depriving Loomans of a third open title (although she had already won the handicap mixed doubles with partner Maxwell Harrison).
The B groups and handicap sections witnessed a high standard of play, with some competitive matches and a win in the ladies’ singles for Rye LTC member Clare Crawshay-Williams.
The tennis week continues with the Two Generation tournament and Junior Tennis tournament followed by the members’ closed tournament and invitation mixed doubles over the weekend.
After ten days of tournaments at the club, Hotshotz Tennis will be running multisport children’s camps (tennis, padel, table tennis and squash) as well as a junior tennis camp during August. Check out the events page on the Rye LTC website (https://ryelawntennisclub.org.uk/events/) or contact Hotshotz on admin@hotshotztennis.co.uk or phone 07544 872723.
Image Credits: Olli Hopkins .