HAILSHAM Tennis Clubs teams have started their TDS Ultra Winter Tennis League with a bang.
The men’s team were at home to a team from Southdown Tennis Club in Lewes. New team captain, Dom Walter, was unavailable with an injury, but the team put in an excellent performance nevertheless.
First pair, Neil Downer and Johan Jooste had little trouble defeating Southdown’s second pair, Julian Parkin and Cliff Ayris 6-1, 6-1, before dealing similarly with their first pair, Lucien Hewetson and Toby Staveley, 6-1, 6-0.
Second pair, Jose Noya and Ben Stonham, had closer matches, but still beat Hewetson and Staveley 7-5, 7-5, and Parkin and Ayris 6-3, 7-6, to give the team a 4-0 winning start.
The ladies’ second team were away to The Green Tennis Club in St Leonards. Hailsham’s first pair, Narun Chea and Mary Srey had a good start, beating The Green’s second pair, Dana Brass and Louise Gorman 6-2, 6-1.
Second pair, Barbara Cordner and Lyekin Fong lost to The Green’s first pair, Sheila King and Hannah Gandy, 1-6, 1-6, but in the reverse legs they also beat Brass and Gorman, despite losing the first set 0-6, coming back to win the second set 6-3 and the rubber on a championship tie-break 10-7.
In the last leg, The Green’s King and Gandy beat the Hailsham first pair Chea and Srey 6-4, 6-1, to make the result a hard-fought 2-2 draw.
The Hailsham ladies’ first team’s match at Crowborough was disrupted by the weather.
