* Category B Open Championships (Level Singles for Handicaps 10-19) 2024

With four players dropping out in the final 72 hours, and lots of rain, The Category B could have been a washout this year. Instead it was a great example of Tennis on the ascendency… the average age was 28 and five of the players were products of the IIP scheme.

The 15+ handicaps were split into two groups. The first group went according to handicap, although the favourite Alex Machin (Radley) was pushed to 3 sets by both his opponents, Timmy Armstrong (Seacourt) and Jez Brodie (The Hyde). Alex had to work harder than he had hoped, with Timmy showing some exceptional retrieval, and Jez taking advantage of the home court angles.

In the second group, the favourite Zack Smart (Prested) was pushed harder than he expected by both Jim Ludekens (Oxford) and James Ryan (Canford), but his force and cut volley returns gave him the edge in both matches. Nick Jamieson (Leamington) entered the tournament with the highest handicap, but he managed to hold his nerve against Jim and James, and used his analytical skills to nullify Zacks weapons to earn a decisive win for first place.

The final between Alex and Nick was back and forth. Nick took a 3-1 lead in the first set by dominating the service end, but after double figure deuces Alex won the 5th game. That gave Alex some momentum and at 4 games all they were hard to separate. However the breaks and chases fell Nicks way and he won the first set 6-4. The second set began like the first, but this time when they entered the 5th game at 3-1 and had double figure deuces, Nick won it, and that gave him the momentum to go on to take the set and the title.

In the 10-14s there was only a point separating the three players. James Medlow (Petworth) had cracking first match against Jonny Whitaker (Queens). The Ball was really pinging around, with both players retrieving well and playing tight rallying shots out of necessity as anything loose was pummelled into the targets. Benedict Yorston, a former champion, played well against both players, but couldn’t quite do enough to stop James and Jonny from finishing rallies with big shots.

The Final saw a rematch between Jonny and James. James was full of confidence going into the match having won both his previous. Jonny played incredibly well… he didn’t do much wrong, but James was exceptional. Whenever Jonny hit an aggressive shot, James would find a way to get it back. If Jonny hit anything but a great shot, James put it away. James won with a convincing scoreline (which didn’t do justice to how well Jonny played) and thoroughly deserved to win the 10-14s.