Bathurst Cup 2024

7-8^th March:

3 of us embarked from Heathrow to undertake the 25 hour journey to Melbourne for practice on the weekend of 9-10^th March. Jess Garside and I acted as minders for the 17 year old Henry Henman – GBs youngest Bathurst participant ever. Not old enough to buy alcohol but certainly tall enough to lift his luggage into the overhead compartments, I was worried that the lack of legroom in economy might injure Henry before the tournament began.

9^th March:

We arrived in Melbourne greeted by ARTA president and Melbourne member Stephen Powell with the temperature hitting 39 degrees. With anecdotes about the January Aus Open talking of thunderstorms and rain, I wondered what the fuss was all about. Nonetheless practice went smoothly despite the heat. For those who don’t know, the womens event pits team GB against the Rest of the World and it was great to see some new faces in the RoW team. We were greeted with an excellent cocktail party in the evening where the Bathurst Cup draws took place. Plenty of whispering within all teams, discussing combinations and match ups… all part of the fun before the matches began. 2x Bathurst Cups being safely delivered to RMTC and not taken by Australian border control was also a relief.

10^th March:

Late afternoon practice and sunburn obtained from the day before. Henry hasn’t gone missing, tick. Team ‘coach’ Nigel Pendrigh offering useful advice, tick. All mens and womens teams practiced in the 38 degree heat and an early night was taken before the matches began in earnest on Monday.

11^th March:

I filed a few VAT returns in the morning before getting to the club to watch Mike Williams and Kieran Booth dispatching Charlie Hurstel and Nicolas Victoir respectively. The 6 strong Australia team complete with non-playing captain Chris Sievers looked to be an imposing unit when supporting in the side galleries and made me wonder if we had arrived slightly undercooked! Our evening semi-final against the USA began shakily, with Ed dropping the first set to Ben Hudson. With 14 points difference in handicap between them, various whatsapps were sent back to England in dread. Thankfully normal service was restored in the next 3 sets, Ed coming through 3-1. Spike’s tour diaries spoke frequently of Bathurst cup bagels and I scored a brace against Philadelphia’s Henry Smith, with a 3-0 win taking our overall score to 2-0 in rubbers.

12^th March:

The main attraction of the morning’s matches was the start of the Women’s Bathurst. Henry and I were parked up in the side galleries to support. The atmosphere was electric for both matches with a highlight being newcomer Emily Young holding strong at the galleries to partner captain Lea to a 2-0 win. GB levelled things up with a 2-0 win in the other match, before team Australia scored 3 bagels in a doubles demolition of France. I gave myself a rest to watch how Ed and Henry might play as a combination vs Winthrop/Hudson. Plenty of food for thought as we completed a 3-0 win and secured a place in the final. Dinner in Richmond and AFL tickets secured – good start to the week.

13^th March:

Dead rubbers in both mens semi finals gave an opportunity for Dan Williams, Ollie Pridmore and Henry to get some sets under their belt. Both men’s semis both finished 5-0 and set up an intriguing Aus v GB final. The Women’s Bathurst was also tied at 2-2 overall after some exciting matches – nothing separating the 2 teams was certainly to be the story of the week. Henry Smith’s booming voice echoed around RMTC with ‘let’s go world’ being the tagline for the week. The evening activity was a trip to Queen Victoria market where most of the players picked up gorgeous temporary tattoos. Perhaps Ben Hudson regrets getting a scorpion on his calf visible for all to see?

14^th March:

A few emails sent out in the morning and Netflix series consumed to take my mind off the big game in the evening. Arrived at RMTC to a Stretford End style roaring from the French team. Bien joué and Allez will be useful phrases the next time I’m in Paris. The epic win 6/5 in the 5^th by Nicolas Victoir over Pat Winthrop seemed to take all day and caused a commotion amongst the RMTC pros over who would mark! You also guessed it – the womens Bathurst was tied at 4-4, mainly thanks to an awesome win by Tara Lumley over Saskia 0/6 6/5 6/5 keeping team GB hopes alive. Ably supported by his 6 month old son (you can hear him on the live stream) Ed then defeated Mike Williams 3-1 before I went down 3-0 to KB. Any disappointment over missed chances in the first set was wiped out upon viewing the superb photos taken of the match by Graeme Blundstone. Sydney vs Collingwood at the MCG in the evening. Sydney meting out the AFL equivalent of a triple bagel to Chappers’ beloved magpies.

15^th March:

Team selection drama in the Womens Bathurst. Illness, injury I had lost count. Turns out being a part of the Bathurst Tournament Committee for the week lights up your phone notifications. Women’s Bathurst tied at 6-6 – you know the drill by now. Record decibel levels recorded on the second court at RMTC… Winthrop and Hudson securing a 2-1 lead for the USA 6/2 in the 5^th. I was swapping myself in for Ed in the doubles team upon advice from coach Nigel so had a game to play in the afternoon. 3.5 hours later and I finally understood the unique attraction and magic of the Bathurst. KB rolled an ankle when 6-5 6-3 2-1 up which gave us a glimmer of hope... Never felt like the time was right to ask KB for one of his stack of bananas when I had run out. Good to see Henry and Ollie battling it out against each other – 17 and 19 years old which is great for the future of amateur tennis. Alas, going down 3-2 never easy to take but who knows how fit KB would be for the final day…

16^th March:

Finally the deadlock was broken by the RoW team who triumphed in the deciding doubles match. Huge congratulations to all of the players in the Women’s Bathurst which was far more exciting than Lords in 2022! USA secured 3^rd place by winning both reverse singles on the final day in what was a classic battle against France. We took the Men’s Bathurst to the wire but fell short 3-2 overall. KB definitely the difference winning all of his matches – credit also to Australia who had run a points ‘race’ to decide their team and drum up interest amongst the players. Made me think that perhaps team GB should be taking planning more seriously for the next 2 years with both cups now remaining in Australia! With France and USA also looking good for 2 years time, we might have the most courts and players but this tour definitely showed me that you can’t expect to win the Bathurst without serious preparation. Amazing dinner at the Melbourne club on the Saturday evening. Sad to see a former Rackets court in the middle of Melbourne now used for fine dining! The poet laureate Tara Lumley serenaded us with a famous Bathurst poem and the RoW and Australia deservedly lifted the trophies.

17^TH March:

Exhausted, the players either returned home or embarked to the Australian Womens Open and Australian Amateur singles at Hobart. Thanks went out to RMTC and their fabulous pro team, Richard Pagone for chairing the organising committee and to ARTA for hosting a superb event.

2026 in France – we will be there!