Harrison cruises to singles title with straight sets win, losing just one game

MAPLEDURHAM Lawn Tennis Club held its annual finals day.

There were no juniors or ladies’ singles finals this year but there was still a fun and competitive edge to the event which took place in the sunshine and very little wind.

Max Harrison, 17, a new up and coming tennis star, cruised to a straight sets victory over Jon Weldon in the men’s final 6-1, 6-0. This was a remarkable achievement given Weldon has previously held the club’s men’s singles title on more than one occasion.

The men’s doubles looked to have been in the bag for Weldon and Chris Wright, who won the first set comfortably 6-1 and were on top in the second set over opponents Harrison and Ricardo Dytz.

But gradually, after long tense rallies, the patience and consistency shown by Harrison and Dytz caused their opponents to start making mistakes and they narrowly lost the second and third sets in tie breaks.

Jane Lang and Sally Marie had a comfortable win over Sandra Smith and Sally Foster 6-4, 6-4 while Fiona Roach and Huib Steenbergen dominated the mixed doubles match against Wright and Carolyn Cordy, winning 6-4, 6-2.

Finally, in the men’s veterans over 60s singles, David Maynerd and Philip de Sausmarez fought it out for nearly one-and-a-half hours. Maynerd won 6-1, 6-3, but only after innumerable deuces and saved break points.

The event was organised by Dan Power, who umpired alongside Maynerd and Stephan Cohen.