The Rye Annual Tennis Tournament took place over four days of glorious sunshine, from Friday 31 July to Monday 3 August, with around 275 players coming together from all corners of the world to do battle on the Club’s outstanding grass courts. With a record number of entrants, thanks must go to umpires Richard Holt (Chris Gorringe’s successor in the Pavilion) and Club chairman Jonathan Jempson, along with their team of able helpers for bringing the event to a successful close early on Monday evening in front of an appreciative crowd.
In the men’s singles final, New Zealander Rhett Purcell faced Aleks Mitric, a member of David Lloyd Finchley. With some hugely powerful play and fierce rallying from both sides, Davis Cup player Purcell finally took the match, with a spectacular volley dive at match point to clinch the title.
The two met again across the net in the men’s doubles final, when Purcell teamed up with fellow countryman Mark Hadley, winner of many Rye titles over the years, to take on Mitric and Regent’s Park member Darius Faiz Mahdavi. The match saw some fearsome ground strokes and quick-fire net play, as Hadley and Purcell gained the upper hand and came through the winners.
In the ladies’ singles, Ukrainian Anastasiia Kotsyuba, previously a Colorado college player and last year’s ladies’ singles runner-up, took on Ellie Hill from Camden Hill LTC, a runner-up in last year’s ladies’ doubles. With some competitive play from both sides, Kotsyuba came through to be crowned this year’s champion.
In the ladies’ doubles, Kotsyuba joined forces with Alejandra Botbol to take on Agata Baranska from Poland and her partner Anya Prudkova, both Holland Park team players. After some hard hitting and tight rallies, Kotsyuba and Botbol fell victim to the stronger Holland Park pairing, who took the title.
In the mixed doubles, Baranska – fresh from her ladies’ doubles victory – this time took to the court with John Horoz Garner against Regents Park members Ema Operta and Uttam Singh. After a closely fought match, Baranska and Horoz Garner just got their noses ahead and Baranska took her second title of the weekend.
The B groups and Handicap sections also witnessed a high standard of play, with some extremely competitive matches. The Handicap mixed doubles final was an “all Rye” affair, with husband-and-wife team Philip Harper and Sarah Walsh just coming through in a tight match against Freddie Menzies and Clare Crawshay-Williams. Harper and Menzies were also finalists, playing together, in the men’s doubles.
The tennis week continued with the Two Generation Tournament, which saw a record turnout of 55 pairs playing over the eight grass courts. The youngest player was only seven and the oldest was well into her eighties. Players came from all over the country, with special mention to the Whitfield family who made their annual pilgrimage to Rye and came first and second in their group.
The Junior Tennis Tournament took place from Wednesday to Friday and the sun continued to shine as the boys and girls competed for the singles titles on day one, followed by 160 juniors competing in the doubles on the second day and 45 pairs battling it out for the mixed doubles trophy on day three. The singles winners were Will Wixley and Imogen Purnell, the doubles champions Nico Rainbird and Max Young and Olivia Purnell and Camilla Voute, and the mixed doubles crown went to Freddie Furnival and Olivia Purnell.
There was a record turn-out for the annual Farmer Mixed Doubles tournament on the Saturday. The mercury hit 26 degrees as 48 couples all played 55 games of tennis, helped along by lunch and tea from Katie Ashby and her team and plenty of rosé and Pimm’s. After handicapped play-offs, the winners were Georgina Stephenson and Freddie Whitfield, who received their trophies with beaming smiles and to cheers from the crowd.
The Members Closed Tournament, on Sunday, wrapped up a magnificent ten days of tennis. With some fierce competition in the men’s singles, Simon Latham fought his way through a tough field to meet Ollie Bearcroft in the final and take the RLTC title in his first membership year. A lengthy doubles final saw Scott Brotherton and Alex Hoffman stake their claim to the title with Dom Atwell-Harris and Freddie Pack worthy runners-up. In the ladies’ singles, Vicki Lowe celebrated a win again this year after edging out an impressive performance from Evie Hoffman in the final. Vicki clinched her second title alongside Heather Mott in the doubles, with Melanie Baynton-Perret and Sarah Walsh coming in a close second.
Full reports of all the tournaments can be found on the Club’s website.
After ten days of tournaments, Hotshotz Tennis will be running multisport children’s camps (tennis, padel, table tennis and squash) as well as a junior tennis camps through August. Check out the Events page on the Rye LTC website.
Image Credits: Olli Hopkins .