Tennis in Surrey Magazine 2016

Crosshead 

2016 

Surrey coach wins 

National coach of the year! 

Read about Mark Love’s story and his tips for success 

feature p21 people p6 awards p18 

VOLUNTEERING 

IN TENNIS: 

Day in the life of a 

Wimbledon Steward 

Player interview: 

Gemma Heath 

Journey from U10s County 

Cup to ITF competition 

AND THE 

WINNERS ARE 

Surrey celebrates an award 

winning year 

www.tennissurrey.org.uk Follow us on twitter @TennisInSurrey tennis in surrey 2016 1

contents 

36 

Inside this issue 

PLACES 

4 Redhill LTC - Putting Tennis back on the map. 

24 

PEOPLE 

6 Player profile. Gemma Heath. 

8 ‘Fiery’ Fred Whitaker: Surrey tennis in 1965. 

10 Surrey seniors continue with winning form for the 

county. 

13 Denise Woods receives top award. 

PROGRAMMES 

14 Coach Profile. Luke Mulvihill and disability tennis. 

COVER STORY 

16 Surrey coach, Mark Love wins National Coach of the 

Year. 

21 Volunteering in tennis. Jeremy Cook, AELTC Honorary 

Steward at The Wimbledon Championships. 

18 An Award winning year for Surrey’s tennis people. 

COUNTY CUP 

24 County Cup: Another fantastic year for Surrey. 

PROMOTION 

27 Success for Great Britain and Surrey brothers in the 

European Deaf Tennis Championships. 

28 Surrey coach Kate Maurici recalls her Miss-Hits 

experience with Judy Murray. 

30 Davis Cup Trophy Tour 2016. 

31 Memories of 1936 Davis Cup Success. 

32 Is Surrey coach Nick Wheatley the next YouTube 

sensation? 

33 Aegon Team Tennis update. Title defence from Team 

Wilton. 

34 Surrey Champions in the Nike Junior National 

Championships 2016. 

35 The ITF Woking Open Seniors Tournament continues 

to grow. 

COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS 

36 Surrey County Championships 2016. 

RESULTS 

38 Select results from the 2016 Surrey leagues. 

2 tennis in surrey 2016 facebook.com/TennisSurrey www.tennissurrey.org.uk

Letter from the editor 

Another extraordinary year for Surrey! 

2016 has been an award winning year for the tennis 

people of Surrey with on the court achievements in 

competitions such as County Cup and Aegon Team 

Tennis as well as accolades off the court, in particular 

Mark Love of Purley Bury’s award of Aegon Coach of 

the Year. 

It is also important to recognise the contribution of 

our tennis volunteers and this year sees the stepping 

down of several long standing Council members 

who have dedicated so much of their time, energy 

and passion into driving tennis in the county to the 

heights we see today. All our clubs have important 

volunteers and the Council is no different, we would 

like to thank David Coyte, Keith Glass, Brian Havill 

and Christine Wilding for their many years of service. 

introduction 

As we say thank you to those leaving Council we 

look to the future and encourage others to consider 

standing for election. If you would like a chat 

about being involved in Surrey Tennis please email 

David Cianfarani - davidcianfarani@gmail.com and 

one of the team will be in touch. If you don’t feel 

volunteering with the Council is the right step just 

yet, there are many other opportunities to be involved 

in tennis and I encourage you all to speak to your local 

coach or club contact. To show where volunteering 

may take you we have a great article on a “day in the 

life” of Honorary Steward, Jeremy Cook, I hope you 

enjoy. 

Richard 

Richard Shepherd, Editor 

Surrey County Lawn Tennis Association 

nominations for the Council for 2017 

The following have been nominated to serve on the 

Surrey Council for the ensuing year. The year of 

election to the Council is given in brackets. 

Officers Nominated 

President John Phillips (1977) 

Treasurer Derek Howorth (1990) 

Secretary Roy Staniland (1997) 

David Cianfarani (1983) 

Joy Jackson (2011) 

Peter Lane (1974) 

David Lovejoy (2013) 

Louise McKerchar (2015) 

Chris Major (1998) 

Anne Pitt (2010) 

Tony Scarlett (1966) 

Justin Sherring (2010) 

Charlotte Stainer (2011) 

Alison Taylor (2013) 

The following is a new nomination for 2017 

Deborah Hamlin 

Councillors standing down this year 

David Coyte, Keith Glass, Brian Havill, Richard 

Shepherd, Christine Wilding. 

Tennis Surrey Team 

T: 020 8487 7036 

Tennis Surrey Coordinator 

Chris Risebro 

E: chris.risebro@tennissurrey.org.uk 

Tennis Surrey Competitions Administrator 

Lewis Woodham 

E: competitions@tennissurrey.org.uk 

Tennis Surrey Development Officer and 

Disability Tennis Coordinator 

Tim Sagar 

E: tim.sagar@tennissurrey.org.uk 

Join the conversation on 

@TennisInSurrey 

Tennis Surrey 

Editor Richard Shepherd 

Deputy editor Christine Wilding 

Proof reader Catherine Levack 

Design Anthony Collins 

www.antcollins.com 

Print MMS Marketing Services 

www.mms-ww.com T: 01491 599927 

LTA - South East Region 

T: 020 8487 7204 

E: southeast@lta.org.uk 


places 

Redhill LTC – Putting Tennis 

back on map! 

At the start of the year Redhill Lawn Tennis Club had two courts out of use, 

no club coach and dwindling numbers. Now it is almost unrecognisable! As 

the year draws to a close, the ten-court club on Linkfield Lane has a totally 

different atmosphere thanks to our team’s hard work and a determination to 

have a strong presence in the local community. 

I was delighted to be appointed 

as Head Coach in March. The club 

and I had a clear goal which we 

wanted to achieve, namely getting 

out into the community to offer 

everyone a chance to play tennis. 

We devised a simple plan to get 

rackets into the hands of local 

children - I visited local schools 

and gave free tennis coaching 

during PE lessons and set up a 

subsidised after school club. 

The committee offered 

support by launching a school 

membership scheme with 

discounted rates and free sessions 

at the club. The club soon had over 

150 children each week playing 

tennis at affordable prices. 

We also looked to reinvent the 

Junior Programme by focusing on 

some core coaching principles as 

well as competition. 

I wanted the programme 

to work the juniors hard and 

give them some of the skills 

needed to compete, which is why 

each session has a good level 

of competition and intensity. 

At the end of summer we had 


places 

Performance Squads and 2016 

Junior Champions. 

The club and its committee have 

worked hard to ensure two brand 

new artificial clay courts were 

opened with a special exhibition 

match featuring Wimbledon hero 

Marcus Willis. 

After playing TouchTennis and 

presenting awards Marcus said 

he was impressed by the set up 

at Redhill. “There’s a great vibe at 

the club with all members clearly 

enjoying the new courts, fresh ideas 

and bigger coaching programme. 

The club members and sessions 

look great fun to play in.” 

The adult section was large but 

numbers hadn’t increased for 

some time, so the club and I acted 

quickly by offering Wednesday 

evening improver sessions, 

Saturday lunchtime club sessions, 

Singles Ladder and Monday night 

drills sessions. 

Club Chairman Derek Avery 

said: “We knew we needed 

weekend sessions and had plenty 

of people wanting competitions 

through winter, so with five 

floodlit courts, why not get the 

lights on and have people hitting? 

We’re delighted seeing the courts 

busy.” 

We have big plans for our club 

and look to continue to grow in 

the community. Local schools 

are looking at using the bespoke 

junior courts for matches, more 

open days, coaching offers and 

membership incentives are also 

planned. 

I hope that by sharing our story 

other clubs may find some ideas 

to help boost their numbers and 

inspire players of all ages. 

David Earl 


people 

Player Profile: Gemma Heath 

In this edition of Tennis in Surrey we speak to 

aspiring Surrey junior player Gemma Heath. 

Tennis career so far: 

Gemma started playing tennis 

at the age of five. She has played 

for County Cup teams from U10 

up to most recently U18, with 

the Surrey team being successful 

many times. Gemma was the Nike 

Junior U14 and U16 Champion, 

has represented Great Britain in 

the summer and winter cups and 

has played in the Nike invitational 

Masters in Miami. 

At the age of 13 she was one 

of the youngest girls to win an 

ITF singles at Grade 5, her first 

tournament at that level. 

Gemma trained at Sutton 

Tennis Academy since the age of 

five, only recently moving on to 

work full time with her individual 

coach Neil Carter. She now trains 

at the National Tennis Centre as 

well as Sutton Tennis Academy. 

Neil has known Gemma and her 

family for years and is familiar 

with her game down to the finest 

detail. Before working with Neil, 

Gemma credits her first coach 

Ross Sheppard at Sutton Tennis 

Academy with helping to kick start 

her tennis at a young age. 

What a typical week looks like: 

Gemma trains six days a week 

-that’s an average of 14 hours of 

tennis plus fitness and strength 

and conditioning. She also has to 

ensure her nutritional needs and 

of course school work are well 

looked after. Gemma is learning 

online with Wolsey Hall for her 

IGCSE’s in English, Maths and 

Science. 

Key achievements this year: 

Gemma was delighted to become 

U16 National Champion and win 

the Doubles title at the same time. 

She said: “It was fantastic to become 

national champion two years 

running, U14 last year and U16 

this year. It is also an honour to be 

presented with the Surrey County 

Association Progress Cup in 2016. I 

feel very lucky to be able to follow 

my dream of being a professional 

tennis player. I am so grateful 

for all the support I receive from 

my coaches (fitness and tennis), 

sponsors, and of course my parents.” 

The year has been an exciting 

one for Gemma as she explains: 

“This year I was a finalist in two 

Grade 4 ITF’s and also won three 

Doubles titles in the same event. I 

won the Nike U16 Junior Nationals 

titles in Singles and Doubles and 

competed in my first professional 

tournament in Surbiton, where I 

was really pleased with the way I 

played. 

“I then competed at 

Roehampton and Nottingham 

pro events and won some tough 

matches. Doing as well as I did in 

the ITF women’s events has given 

me a lot more confidence to go 

forward. I am more determined 

to work on my game style and 

dedicate myself to my training 

programme.” 

Who do you admire in the 

sports world? 

My sporting role model is Serena 

Williams. For me she is the 

greatest of all time. Her power and 

aggressive game is inspirational. 

I admire many athletes; the work 

and commitment it takes to reach 

the best you possibly can be is 

incredibly tough.” 

What are your hobbies? 

“I don’t have an awful lot of spare 

time after a full day’s training and 

school work but I do love music, 

going to the cinema and a cheeky 

Nando’s with my friends. I have 

tried golf in the past so maybe one 

day I’ll give that more of a go.” 

Goals: 

“My aim for the future is to 

improve my professional and 

junior ITF world ranking, so I will 

be able to compete at higher level 

events. I hope to play in Junior 

Grand Slam events including 

Wimbledon.” 


people 


people 


“A couple of days ago we were 

having a clean out after the sale 

of our business late last year and I 

was pleased to come upon a couple 

of pewter beer mugs which my 

father had won in Malaya between 

the wars. 

Closer inspection revealed 

that contained within them 

were a number of medals I had 

accumulated as a boy whilst living 

in England from March 1965 to 

December 1971. 

Boy did some memories come 

back! 

“I do hope that the youngsters 

fortunate enough to earn these 

titles are still awarded effectively 

worthless (in monetary terms) 

mementos like these. 

Money is very soon gone as I am 

well able to testify! 

For the record my trove includes 

the British Boy’s Championship 

winner 1968 and Semi-Finalist 

1967 (I may have lost to JPR 

Williams perhaps), British Boy’s 

16’s Champion 1966 (an all-Surrey 

final as Paul Chevalier and I played 

it – we share exactly the same 

birth date) Surrey Boy’s Singles 

Champion 1967 (the best match I 

ever played I believe), Inter-County 

Boy’s winners 1968 and Inter- 

County Men’s winners 1971 (a 

spoon), both the last two as part of 

Surrey teams. 

That they have survived 

countless moves and three 

marriages over the past 45 years 

is some sort of miracle. The only 

other possessions to have survived 

anywhere near that long are my 

hacksaw, purchased in 1975, and 

an old splintered cricket 

bat with which I whacked 

a six into the Mound 

Stand at Lord’s in July 

1965 just two weeks after 

my 15th birthday. 

Anyway, I guess the 

message is that these 

little tokens carry 

memories that last a 

lifetime even though 

they may seem of little 

consequence at the 

time they are awarded. 

It is with a certain 

smugness that I sit at my keyboard 

on the Gold Coast in shorts and 

bare feet a few yards from my 27 

degrees C swimming pool whilst 

imagining the whistling wind and 

freezing early spring weather in 

London.” 

The Tennis Surrey team really 

enjoyed reading about Fred’s 

musings and asked if he had any 

images from his time playing: 

“As requested, this is about as 

close as it gets, sadly the five years 

since the first was taken have not 

seen colour return to my summit 

though I do at least retain the hair. 

The second was taken at 

Stanley St in Auckland circa 1975. 

I remember it was early in the 

season and the grass was dampish 

and slippery. My opponent had an 

enormous serve, but if one could 

get it back, one had every chance 

in the point. As I’d been playing on 

asphalt during the winter the tread 

on my shoes had worn and I had 

trouble staying upright as I ducked 

and dived about fielding his serve. 

So I went barefoot which raised an 

people 

The Tennis in Surrey team has received a fantastic email from Fred Whitaker, 

affectionately named ‘Fiery Fred’, in which he describes his memories of 

playing tennis in the county as early as 1965… 

‘Fiery’ Fred Whitaker : 

Surrey tennis in 1965 

eyebrow or two at the time. 

I guess these days I’d have owned 

several pairs of shoes but then 

that picture wouldn’t have been 

taken. I also recall my ‘Fiery Fred’ 

label. The best known of those 

around that time was the famous 

cricketer Fred Trueman, but it was 

one of the names with which I was 

encumbered. 

I looked up an old tennis 

opponent on Twitter and a 

link came up with him and his 

wife standing in front of an 

honours board of County Junior 

Champions. I recall a number 

of the names from the Surrey 

County Honours board of Junior 

Champions,but a missing name is 

John de Mendoza who was Junior 

Champion of GB but not Surrey. 

It was him I played in the final in 

1967 when I reckon I played the 

best match of my life. 

It is flattering that 

you were interested.” 

Fred Whitaker 


people 

Surrey Seniors continue with 

winning form for the county 

Our Surrey veterans are a shining example of how tennis can be 

a sport for life. 

First the stats! 

There are 13 Senior inter-county 

competitions (age groups 40 and 

over) with finals at David Lloyd 

Dudley in November every year 

between the Division 1A winners 

and Division 1B winners. All 13 

Surrey teams were in Division 

1A or 1B this year and 8 reached 

their final, 7 winning their 

championship. Of the other teams 1 

came 2nd, 2 came third and 2 came 

5th in their divisions. Throughout 

the season, a total of 74 matches 

and 348 rubbers were played with 

Surrey winning over 78% of the 

matches (58) and nearly 72% of the 

rubbers (250)! 

Women’s 55: Susie Reid, 

Caroline Maxwell-Scott, 

Lyn Stirk, Jill Gradon, 

Sue Willoughby 

Men’s 45: Cameron Hulett, 

Bruce Walker, Bernd 

Stuebing, Sean Cole, 

Paul Mattson, Tim Webb 


people 

Men’s 60: Chris Gotla, 

Steve Anderson, 

Arun Vethakkan, Mike Dawe, 

Mark Staniszewski 

Women’s 60: Gillian 

Bostelmann, Penny 

Sheehan, Penny Mortimer, 

Jenny Cox, Rosie 

Naunton-Morgan 

The Women’s 55s in a division 

of 7 teams won their first 5 

matches before the decider 

against Lancashire who were in 

the same position. Three rubbers 

were decided by championship tie 

breaks which fortunately Surrey 

took to win the match and top the 

league, despite Lancashire’s better 

stats, winning more rubbers and 

sets over the season. Susie Reid and 

Lyn Stirk were both undefeated at 

singles all season and led the team 

to their comprehensive victory in 

the final. 

The Women’s 60s (county 

championship winners for the 

thirteenth time) recovered from 0-2 

down in the final after the singles, 

winning all three doubles. In the 

final match against Herefordshire 

and Worcestershire’s No. 1 Pauline 

Fisher and her partner Dee Smith, 

Penny Mortimer and Penny 

Sheehan recovered from 0-5 down 

in the tie-break decider to win 

12-10. 

The Women’s 65s became 

champions for the fourth year 

running with just one losing draw 

against Warwickshire in their 

division. 

The Women’s 70s lost just one 

rubber throughout the season. 

No other team out of 292 teams 

in Divisions 1 and 2 achieved this. 

Women’s 65: Julie Metz, 

Sue Hill, Amelia Robinson, 

Rose Gedney, Anne Collings 

They also won the championship 

for the fourth year running. 

The Men’s 45s, promoted from 

Division 2 last season, reached 

the pinnacle this year with fine 

performances from all team 

members and Paul Mattson 

undefeated throughout the season. 

Surrey’s last Men’s 45s win was in 

2004. 

Mike Dawe was once again 

outstanding in the Men’s 60s 

winning all 11 rubbers he played 

and ensuring that the team won 

the championship for the fourth 

consecutive year. 

The Men’s 65s struggled with 

injuries to Henk Nijeboor prior to 

the final and John Paish during 

the final so lost 2-3 to Cheshire for 

whom John Hilton was particularly 

impressive. 

The Men’s 75s lost only 3 rubbers 

throughout the season and both 

Leon Fattal and Derek Horwood 

(aged 80!) were undefeated in the 

rubbers they played. 

Our Men’s 50s were 3rd in 

Division 1B, Men’s 55s 5th in 

Division 1A, Men’s 70s 3rd in 

Division 1A, Women’s 40s 2nd in 

Division 1B and Women’s 50s 5th 

in Division 1A. 

The Women’s 40s won 4 out 5 

of their matches as did Devon, 

but they lost the match against 


people 

Sadly our Men’s 55s and 

Women’s 50s will be relegated 

from Division 1 but hopefully in 

2017 and 2018 they can emulate 

the performance of Bruce Walker’s 

Men’s 45s going from Division 2 

to the championship in just two 

years. 

Men’s 75: Leon Fattal, 

Roger Ambrose, Derek 

Howorth, Derek Horwood 

Women’s 70: Sue Milton, 

Rosemary Spence, 

Carol Davies, Mary Harvey, 

Ruth Weston, Daphne Clement 

Devon and hence just missed 

out. Next year beckons for the 

strong squad ably led by Chrissie 

Runnicles. 

Despite comfortable wins 

against Essex, Yorkshire, Kent and 

Lancashire the Men’s 70s team 

disappointingly lost their final 

league match to Middlesex and 

did not therefore qualify for the 

finals this year after contesting the 

previous 5 finals with three wins. 

After promotion from 

Division 2, the Men’s 50s are 

to be congratulated for their 

3rd place finish in 2016 and 

good wins against Lancashire, 

Buckinghamshire and Cheshire. 

There are 195 tennis venues in 

Surrey and players at every one 

can aspire to represent their 

county as they grow older. There 

are so many shining examples of 

those who may not have made 

the County Junior teams or the 

County week teams but now do 

really well at Seniors level. Indeed 

there are many who didn’t even 

take up tennis until their twenties! 

Two fine examples are Men’s 60s 

singles players Mike Dawe and 

Arun Vethakkan. Arun at the age 

of 26 was “discovered” by Derek 

Howorth practising every day on 

the wall at Surbiton LTC! 

Finally a mention for all the 2016 

team captains who worked hard to 

arrange the matches, venues and 

travel as well as maintaining team 

spirit and directing the strategy: 

Chrissie Runnicles (W40), Julie 

Willson (W50), Lyn Stirk (W55), 

Gillian Bostelmann (W60), Amelia 

Robinson (W65), Mary Harvey 

(W70), Bruce Walker (M45), Darren 

Boner (M50), Steve Alger (M55), 

Mark Staniszewski (M60), Peter 

Hesz (M65), Grieve Carson (M70), 

Derek Howorth (M75). 

Mark Staniszewski 

Surrey Seniors Co-ordinator 

Finals results 

Women’s 55s: Surrey 3 - Hampshire and Isle of Wight 0 

Women’s 60s: Surrey 3 - Herefordshire and Worcestershire 2 

Women’s 65s: Surrey 3 - Suffolk 1 

Women’s 70s: Surrey 3 - Yorkshire 1 

Men’s 45s: Surrey 4 - Yorkshire 1 

Men’s 60s: Surrey 3 - Herefordshire and Worcestershire 0 

Men’s 65s: Surrey 2 - Cheshire 3 

Men’s 75s: Surrey 3 - Essex 1 


people 

Denise Woods 

receives top award 

Denise Woods of West Surrey 

Tennis Club was awarded the 

Surrey Meritorious Award for 

services to tennis in the County 

and a surprise presentation was 

arranged on Sunday 25 June during 

the Club’s Finals Day. An engraved 

bowl was presented to Denise by 

Jean Sexton and Tony Scarlett. 

Jean said of Denise: “Denise 

has been involved in Surrey 

tennis for over 50 years, she is a 

determined player, and her son 

and daughter became regular 

junior tournament competitors. 

Denise became an ideal tennis 

parent and she was then heavily 

involved in the running of the huge 

Cranleigh Tournament. Denise 

was meanwhile very involved as a 

volunteer at the West Surrey Tennis 

Club and they were thrilled she was 

awarded the Surrey Meritorious 

Award. 

Surrey Patron’s News 

The Surrey Patrons’ Association 

was founded in 1968. Initially there 

were 29 members and over the 

years this has increased to a full 

membership of 999. 

We have kept faith with the aim 

of the Founders, which was to assist 

in supporting Junior Tennis in the 

County. This was before the days 

of other financial assistance being 

offered to promising juniors, but 

the Association still supports such 

players and assists coaches with 

advancing their qualifications. 

We sponsor the Surrey Junior 

Championships and have recently 

made grants to Clubs purchasing 

defibrillators. We also contribute to 

recognised charities where Clubs 

are sponsoring events on their 

behalf. Members of the Association 

are able to participate in a ballot 

for Wimbledon tickets and enjoy a 

range of social functions. 

It has become customary 

to hold an Annual Dinner at 

Christmas time and this has been 

well supported. Additionally this 

Thank you, Denise, from Tennis 

Surrey.” 

Upon receiving the award, 

Denise was a little overwhelmed 

and responded: “What a delightful 

surprise it was seeing you and Tony 

arrive at our finals day on Saturday 

25th June. I really thought you were 

following up our “Open Day” which 

was on the 29th May as we had 

been in touch with the LTA asking 

their advice which they kindly 

did with booklets and a poster. 

Far from my mind your visit was 

anything to do with me. I’m quite 

sure over the years there have been 

plenty of people who richly deserve 

this award, but I will gracefully 

accept and am honoured to do so, 

so therefore I wish to thank you 

so very much, Tony and Jean, for 

taking the time to travel and also to 

thank Tennis Surrey. This beautiful 

engraved fruit bowl is taking pride 

of place in my lounge together with 

one or two other items that I’ve 

gathered over the years, which I 

shall be proud to show to my family 

and friends when visiting. 

A special thank you to you 

for refereeing the Cranleigh 

Tournament for so many years 

otherwise this award would have 

not been made.” 

year members enjoyed a Wine & 

Buffet Party and a repeat visit to 

the Wimbledon Museum, which 

incorporated a tour of the All 

England Club. The Patrons also 

participated in the Celebration 

of Surrey Tennis in the Spring to 

acknowledge the County’s success 

on the playing front, when they 

became the inaugural winners of 

the Aegon County Cup Champions 

Race. 

Further details are available from 

the Patrons’ Secretary, Peter Lane. 

Email pj.lane@ntlworld.com or 

telephone 01737 353541. 


people 

Coach Profile: Luke Mulvihill 

and Disability Tennis 

How I started out my coach’s 

journey 

I started out coaching as an 

assistant at my local tennis facility 

(Sutton Tennis Academy), I really 

enjoyed the atmosphere of being 

involved with many coaches and 

participants. After I had assisted 

for a couple of months I then 

became involved with the LTA 

apprenticeship scheme allowing 

me to complete my Level 3 award 

in coaching. After completing 

the 2-year scheme I felt I had 

gained the confidence to take on 

more responsibilities and was 

fortunately given more lead coach 

opportunities ranging from club 

to performance sessions. 

How I got involved with 

disability tennis 

I became involved with disability 

tennis through Sutton Tennis 

Academy who had already started 

a Learning Disability Tennis 

session on every Saturday. I was 

asked to cover the session on a 

particular week as the coach was 

away. At that time it was the only 

area of coaching I had not touched 

upon, but from the moment I 

started coaching the session to 

when I had picked up the last bit 

of equipment at the end, I had 

thoroughly enjoyed everything 

about it. I knew from that point it 

was definitely not going to be the 

last time I would coach that class. 

The progressions I have made 

as a coach 

From finishing my Level 3 

Apprenticeship Award to now, 

the difference I have noticed in 

myself is huge. My confidence 

and knowledge has grown due to 

surrounding myself with great 

coaches and my passion for the 

sport. I am currently coaching 

around 200 tennis players a 

week ranging from mini red 

to wheelchair tennis players. I 

have been presented with many 

opportunities including running 

both wheelchair and visually 

Impaired tennis sessions at the 

National Tennis Centre. 

What I am currently doing 

at Sutton 

My role at Sutton is Head Disability 

Tennis Coach and I am now 

running the programme as my 

own. When I started running the 

programme, only 3 sessions were 

available per week: We now have 

8 sessions running each week. I 

have made this a priority of mine 

so that Sutton can become more 

versatile and accommodate more 

participants throughout the week. 

Sessions I have opened up 

at Sutton 

Throughout the past few years I 

have opened a number of sessions 

including 3 more wheelchair 

sessions and a visually impaired 

tennis session. 


people 

Successes I have had in 

relation to the Programme 

Whilst running the programme 

the increase of player participation 

has been great and massively 

rewarding to see, recently opening 

a Vi (visually impaired) session 

elevated disability tennis at Sutton 

as it has proven to become a 

popular session resulting in myself 

being nominated for a Tennis 

Foundation award in the National 

Vi Tennis Awards, winning 3rd 

place Coach of the Year category. 

The session’s real success has been 

allowing players to have their own 

pathway, whether it is guiding new 

players on the way to competing 

or insuring a comfortable 

environment for recreational 

players trying out the sport for the 

first time. 

Why other coaches should 

get involved with disability 

tennis 

I feel more tennis coaches should 

get involved with disability tennis 

due to the reward gained by 

giving anyone with a physical or 

mental disability the opportunity 

to play the sport. It also gives a 

great sense of achievement when 

coaching either an adult or child 

that truly believes they are not 

able to play tennis, but then 

eventually changing their opinion 

and filling them with a sense of 

accomplishment and watching 

them progress as the weeks go by. 

Being a disability tennis coach has 

helped me grow as a coach in every 

aspect. Many things that I believe 

I have gained include confidence, 

better organisation, patience 

and the ability to use simplicity 

not only in the organisation of 

drills but also verbal and physical 

explanations for players from nondisabled 

performance athletes to 

visually impaired tennis players. 

Disability tennis - 

how to get involved 

Tennis Surrey Disability Coordinator: Tim Sagar 

Tim’s role 

To help venues in Surrey deliver 

more in the area of disability 

tennis. We are working in 

partnership with the Tennis 

Foundation and are looking to do 

the following: 

Raise awareness and 

understanding of disability tennis 

amongst our clubs and venues 

Highlight the variety of ways 

people can get involved in 

disability tennis 

Increase the workforce that 

delivers disability tennis in the 

county. 

How to get a programme 

started? 

I am keen to meet up with 

registered venues to discuss their 

thoughts, along with how we 

can support you with current 

projects/issues being faced at your 

venue. David Hardman- Disability 

Development Manager London + 

South East at Tennis Foundation, 

can also be involved in these 

discussions to explain how the 

leading tennis charity can support. 

There are a lot of options and 

opportunity to grow tennis in this 

space. 

Contact Tim: 

Tim.sagar@tennissurrey.org.uk 

Where do I find more 

information about playing? 

Visit our website: 

www.tennissurrey.org.uk 

Or you can go straight to www. 

tennisfoundation.org.uk for 

further information about where 

to play near your area. 


cover story 

Surrey Coach, Mark Love Wins 

National Coach of the Year 

In May 2016, Mark Love the Head Coach at Purley Bury Tennis Club and 

involved in six other clubs, was awarded the Aegon National Coach of the 

Year for 2015. Competing against coaches from across the UK, the Surrey man 

came out on top. In this edition of Tennis in Surrey we find out a little more 

about Mark and his formula for great coaching. 

TS: How did you grow such a 

huge schools programme? 

ML:We offer free tennis assemblies 

in local schools and have run over 

20 free tennis workshops, plus 

attended numerous school fayre’s, 

Gruffy fayres and had a stand at 

Pfizer at their family fun day event. 

Every school we teach in offers an 

exit route to one of our clubs. We 

try to cater for children from all 

different types of backgrounds and 

our programmes are accessible 

to all. We offer pay and play 

sessions for which our sessions 

at Sanderstead LTC on a Tuesday 

evening and Purley Bury LTC on 

a Friday are enjoyed by the whole 

family. Many parents enjoy a drink 

in the bar and while their children 

are out on court being supervised 

by our team of coaches and leaders. 

Profile: Mark Love 

38 years old – started coaching in 

1999 and set up MDL COACHING 

in 2002 exclusively at Purley Bury 

Lawn Tennis Club. Married, to Amy, 

with two children. 

TS: What programmes are on 

offer at MDL? 

ML: Currently we now run the 

coaching programme at 7 tennis 

clubs, we have 6 full time Coaches, 

plus part time coaches and leaders, 

we teach in 20 schools and have 

links with over 40 schools. We 

teach approx 800 people tennis 

a week across all our sites and 

probably more in the Summer 

Term. I owe a great deal to my 

team who all work hard and with 

such enthusiasm. 

TS: What is the first job you do 

in the morning? 

ML:I clear courts at Purley Bury of 

leaves and debris from some pretty 

big trees for the members and all 

players on our programme and 

have the help of my blower that I 

purchased about 4 years ago. 

TS: What have been 

memorable moments over the 

years? 

ML: The team and I worked with 

Greg Rusedski in 2010, met Pat 

Cash at Gresham School, met 

Tim Henman at Danny Sapsford’s 

Bright Ideas for Tennis 24-hour 

tennis marathon. I played against 


cover story 

Danny Sapsford, Luke Milligan, 

Andrew Richardson, Chris 

Eaton during the 24 hour tennis 

marathon in 2014 and 2016. 

Another slightly bizarre memory 

was when Purley Bury was used as 

a film set for a film called Heroes 

and Villains and James Corden 

was in the film before he became 

famous. I would love to have him 

back at the club again... that’s 

clearly my next mission. 

Last year I worked with MIND 

in Croydon and ran coaching 

sessions for some of their members 

for the Autumn Term. This was a 

humbling experience and one that 

I am very pleased I was involved 

with and hope that I will have the 

opportunity to run some sessions 

for them in the future. We have 

coached children with learning 

difficulties and children in 

wheelchairs over the years and find 

this type of work so rewarding and 

memorable. 

TS: What do you hope for your 

own children and tennis? 

ML: Both my children are reaching 

the age where they are about to 

get into sport and I hope tennis is 

something that they will enjoy as 

a sport going forwards. I do feel 

there is plenty of opportunity for 

youngsters to get into the sport 

and develop as players as there are 

some really good professional set 

ups across the country, especially 

in Surrey, with opportunities to 

compete at lots of different levels. 

TS: What advice would you 

offer aspiring coaches (young 

and old). 

ML: I can honestly say that I love 

my job, even in the depths of 

winter (most of the time). You 

never know who you are going 

to meet or what opportunity is 

around the corner. If you can 

approach every day with a passion 

for what you do then you can’t go 

too far wrong. I am honoured to 

have been awarded Aegon National 

Coach of the Year 2015 and thank 

all my team for their support. 

Fact file: 

Mark Love 

Head Coach at Purley Bury LTC 

manages the coaching programme 

at a further 6 tennis clubs. South 

Croydon SC, Sanderstead LTC, 

Sanderstead Village LTC, Cheam 

LTC, Cheam Fields Club and 

Downs LTC. 

Increased participation in the 

local area by running tennis 

assemblies for free at local schools 

(Approx 20 to date), as well as free 

workshops in curricular time. 

Raised more than £5,000 for 

court resurfacing works in 2014. 

In 2015 he created ‘Coaching for 

Girls’ run only by female coaches 

– linked in with local secondary 

schools. 

Worked with MIND of Croydon 

providing tennis sessions for adults 

with mental health issues, offering 

them an exit route to then go on 

and increase their opportunities in 

tennis. 

Created year round coaching, 

continuously developing and 

expanding the programme - in 

particular with Mini Tennis and Tots 

Groups. 

Involved in all LTA initiatives 

including Mini Tennis Month, 

and LTA British Tennis, and has 

organised and coordinated a 

large number of Grade 5 & 6 LTA 

Tournaments. 

Runs leaders courses for our 

older juniors and creates a path for 

them to get into coaching. 

Developed and managed an 

Academy programme for those 

players wishing to take tennis to a 

higher level whilst enabling parents 

to keep the cost down. 

After school tennis clubs running 

at over 20 schools in the local area, 

with links to more than 40 schools 

who help promote holiday tennis 

camps. 

Serves on the committee at 

7 tennis clubs and is part of the 

Sutton Clubs forum. 


cover story 

An award winning year for 

Surrey’s tennis people 

The Aegon British Tennis Awards 

were introduced to reward 

the people and places driving 

participation in British Tennis. 

The Awards are a celebration of 

outstanding achievements in the 

sport and the LTA’s way of saying 

thank you. They also provide an 

opportunity to celebrate and 

champion the role of the volunteer, 

creating an opportunity to attract 

and recruit further volunteers into 

the sport. 

Our Surrey British Tennis Award 

winners announced in 2016 for the 

work and dedication in 2015 were: 

Outstanding Achievement 

Award (County) – Milton Gayle 

of Burgess Park Tennis Centre 

Milton has worked in local 

community tennis in some of SE 

London’s most deprived areas since 


cover story 

Amy Love 

the 1970’s. Milton’s tireless efforts 

to provide tennis in Southwark 

paid off in 2004 when the Lottery 

and local authority put up the 

funds for a new facility and 

Southwark City Tennis Club, based 

in Burgess Park, was born and 

subsequently became one of the 

largest community clubs in the 

country. 

Milton says “The area we live 

in is a troubled area – lots of 

problems. It’s not a tennis-oriented 

background. Tennis is not a sport 

that is easily accessible to these 

kids, but we’ve got nearly 500 kids 

on our membership now.” 

Disability Programme Award 

(County) – Surbiton Racquet & 

Fitness Club 

The disability tennis programme 

at Surbiton is headed by Chris 

Starrett. Chris’s passion for 

disability tennis is endless and he 

continues to work with as many 

individuals as possible. He pushes 

the boundaries and has achieved 

great success in championing the 

sport to all. 

Community Venue Award 

(County) – Churchfields 

Recreation Ground 

Rashid Ahmad has developed the 

sport of TouchTennis from scratch, 

Chris Starrett 

growing from a handful of players 

to over 10,000 players worldwide, 

as a volunteer. Following a 

Surrey-funded pilot in 2013, 

with funding from Elmbridge 

Borough Council, eight permanent 

TouchTennis courts were opened at 

Churchfields Recreation Ground in 

Weybridge. 

These courts are open to use by 

anyone and can often be seen full 

with parents playing TouchTennis 

with their young children. Free 

sessions are run each week, with 

equipment and guidance provided 

for free. Rashid has put a huge 

amount of effort into making this 

venue inclusive, accessible and a 

focal point of the community. 

Club Award (County) – 

Pensford Tennis Club 

Pensford TC celebrated its 25th 

Rashid Ahmad 

anniversary in October 2015. It 

was founded on a disused school 

playing field with help from an 

LTA grant and its six courts now 

provide a centre for tennis in the 

local community. The Club has 

links with local primary schools 

and runs a comprehensive junior 

programme and competitive 

opportunities supported by a 

strong management committee 

which has recently overseen the 

refurbishment of the changing 

rooms, kitchen and clubhouse, 

resurfacing of three courts and the 

installation of floodlighting for 

all six courts to increase playing 

capacity. The Award was presented 

to the Club Chairman, Mark Evans. 

The following three winners 

Denis Kudla 

were also selected by a Regional 

Panel to be considered for a 

National Award. 

Coach Award (County and 

Regional) – Mark Love of MDL 

Coaching 

Mark runs MDL Coaching which 

is linked to seven venues in the 

Croydon/Sutton area where he 

is on the Committee of each 

club as well as being part of the 

Sutton Clubs Forum. He also 

tirelessly promotes tennis outside 

these clubs frequently running 

assemblies at local schools, as 

well as running free workshops in 

curricular time and taking part 


cover story 

Charlotte McKay 

in school open days and summer 

fayres. He has linked into local 

secondary schools to introduce 

‘Coaching for Girls’, run by female 

coaches, and has worked with 

MIND of Croydon providing tennis 

sessions for adults with mental 

health problems. 

Mark’s exhausting programme 

includes after school tennis clubs 

running at over 20 schools in the 

local area, with links to more than 

40 schools who help promote 

holiday tennis camps. 

Young Volunteer Award 

(County and Regional) – 

Charlotte McKay of Sutton 

Churches Tennis Club 

Charlotte has been volunteering 

at Sutton Churches Tennis Club 

since she was 16 years old. She was 

straightaway noticed for being 

cheerful and helpful. She’s been an 

excellent assistant to the coaches 

and often sees what they don’t 

have time to see themselves, and 

gets it done. She also ensures that 

the children who have attended 

coaching get safely to their parents 

at the end of the session. Now a 

graphic designer, Charlotte has 

designed some fantastic posters 

for events at the club. She is a 

great role model for those in the 

club in their 20’s – the age group 

that most clubs find it difficult to 

attract and keep. 

Volunteer Award (County 

and Regional) – Bryan Jepp of 

Cheam Fields Tennis Club 

Bryan is a volunteer in a million. 

Since retiring 15 years ago he has 

selflessly dedicated his time to 

Cheam Fields. It seems he almost 

lives at the Club taking care 

of everybody and everything 7 

days a week - helping coach the 

juniors at their weekly sessions, 

looking after the parents, tending 

to the gardens, and keeping the 

courts and gardens immaculate, 

writing references for the juniors, 

coaching beginners and improvers, 

organising new groups (such as 

mums with babies for whom he 

even organised a crèche facility). 

This has produced a very happy 

membership which during Bryan’s 

time has doubled in size (from 

170 to 350) Bryan has developed so 

many youngsters by encouraging 

them to become Assistant coaches 

allowing them to run tennis 

sessions and coach individuals and 

giving them the confidence to use 

these skills not just in tennis but in 

the wider world. 

As well as coaching and 

mentoring the juniors (and their 

parents!), Bryan provides hours 

of coaching - much of it free - for 

beginners and improvers. His 

enthusiasm and support has 

transformed numerous nervous 

non athletic beginners into solid 

players who get huge enjoyment 

from their regular tennis. By 

organising groups of retirees, 

part time workers and mums he 

has filled the previously empty 

midweek courts and helped lots 

of newcomers to experience and 

enjoy tennis. 

Bryan also helped the Club get 

funding for a new pavilion and 

monitored the project to ensure 

it met the very best standards. 

He promoted it’s use by the local 

community and it now hosts 

regular yoga and tai chi sessions 

for local residents Virtually 

everyone in the local area knows 

Bryan - a kind, enthusiastic 

gentlemanly 76 year old. He still 

has tennis club projects he would 

like to do but he feels it is time 

to ‘retire’ next year and it would 

be a great shame if his huge 

contribution to tennis in this area 

of Surrey was not recognised more 

widely. 


Graham and Jeremy 

Honorary Stewards 

of The Championships, 

Wimbledon. 

www.lavazza.com 

Graham and Jeremy 

Honorary Stewards 

of The Championships, 

Wimbledon. 

WWW.LAVAZZA.COM 

cover story 

Volunteering in tennis: 

Jeremy Cook, Honorary Steward 

at The Wimbledon Championship 

Volunteers make an important contribution to tennis throughout Surrey from 

supporting grass roots competitions and helping our clubs thrive through 

to stewarding at the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), venue for The 

Wimbledon Championships. In this edition of Tennis in Surrey we spoke with 

Jeremy Cook about his experiences of volunteering as an Honorary Steward. 

When did you decide to 

become an HS and how did you 

make this a reality? 

I was very fortunate to go to 

Wimbledon with my father back 

in 1990, and as we approached 

the grounds I met a friend who 

appeared to be stewarding people 

outside a front gate of the grounds. 

I enquired what he was doing and 

after a brief explanation, I was 

instantly hooked with becoming 

an Honorary Steward. I completed 

an application form and was 

duly put on a waiting list. I was 

contacted 5 years later and asked 

if I would like to serve at the 

championships in 1995, and I did 

not hesitate and my career as an 

Honorary Steward had begun. 

What does an average 

day entail during the 

Championships? 

After over twenty years’ service, 

my average day has changed 

considerably. It now starts with 

arriving at the grounds at around 

8 am and the first port of call is 

the Honorary Stewards Office to 

collect the “order of play” and 

various other instructions for the 

day ahead. I usually then visit my 

gangway on Centre Court to make 

sure it is in good shape with no 

obvious problems regarding the 

seating, and it is ready for the first 

match in the afternoon. Every 

morning there is a debrief meeting 

which I attend to get any feedback 

from the day before, or special 

arrangements for the day ahead. 

Then it is back to the gangway 

to meet up with the team of 

Honorary & Service stewards who 

will be working with me, and we 

discuss the arrangements for the 

day. My role until play is concluded 

involves making sure the right 

people sit on the right seats and 

adopt the appropriate code of 

conduct during play. This entails 

lots of interaction with the general 

public and requires a degree in 

diplomacy most of the time! 

Your most memorable 

Championship? 

I would say 2013 was the most 

memorable because I was asked 

to work on the player’s guests 

gangway on Centre Court for the 

first time. It was a great honour 

to be involved with this area as 

it creates its own very special 

atmosphere and excitement, 

and certainly has seen many 

memorable moments. 

Your most memorable match? 

Andy Murray winning Wimbledon 

will always be for me the most 

memorable match, as it made 

history and finally we had a British 

male champion in the modern 

era. The atmosphere and noise in 

this match was by far the loudest 

and enthusiastic that I have ever 

experienced on Centre Court. 

What advice would you offer 

to others that may wish to 

volunteer in tennis? 

You need to have a passion for the 

sport and it helps if you play or 

follow the tennis on a regular basis. 

This aspect gives you the enormous 

respect for the talent that is on 

show in this great game, when it is 

played at the highest level. 


people 

Surrey’s Juniors are 

recognised for their 

achievements in 2016 

The All England Club was once again the venue for 

the Tennis Surrey Junior Awards for the second 

year running. 

For those who had not already 

taken a tour of the Club, Dan 

Bloxham, the Head Coach at the 

AELTC, took groups of winners, 

their parents and other guests on 

a behind-the-scenes tour of Centre 

Court, including the interview 

room, where the younger 

members of the tour party took 

their seats and got an idea of how 

it felt to face a sea of reporters 

and photographers. After the 

tour, everyone made their way 

back to the Terrace Room for the 

presentation of the Surrey Junior 

Awards 2016. 

The Awards recognise the 

achievement of the Surrey Junior 

County Cup teams which have won 

national titles during the year and 

the Surrey teams that progress 

furthest in Aegon Team Tennis. 

Trophies were also rewarded for 

Progress and Endeavour, as well as 

the Junior Development Coach of 

the Year, the Junior Performance 

Coach of the Year, and the Junior 

Tennis Volunteer of the Year. 

Teams 

Surrey Boys 10U Team 

Manager - David Lovejoy, Coach – David 

Cox. Team members – Kai-Luca Ampaw, 

Jamie Diack, Alexandre Gruffat and 

Henry Jefferson 

Surrey Boys 12U Team 

Manager – Matt Trevail, Coach – Ben 

Cullen. Team members – Daniel 

Abernethy, Mukhtar Andu, Finn Doyle, 

Raffaello Papajcik and George Shields 

Surrey 14U Boys Team. Manager – 

Shaun Malcolm, Coach – Josh Miller. 

Team members – Jorge Beltrao, Guy 

den Ouden, Arthur Fery, Ben Heynold, 

Harry Hewing and Vraj Patel 

Sutton Tennis Academy 18U Boys Team 

Manager – James Feaver. Team 

members – David Brehme, Remus 

Cope, Christian Doel, Josh Goodger, 

Julian Lewis, Zack Norman, Alex 

Romay and Dan Siddall 

Oxshott Village Sports Club – Mini 

Tennis Red Team 

Manager – Jamie Starr. Team members 

– Samuel Axe, Toby Balls, Lillie 

Burgess-Allen, Olivia Gioffredo, Stepan 

Kasperskiy and Joshua Terry 

County Team of the Year 

Boys 10U Team, Boys 12U Team, Boys 14U Team 

Aegon Team Tennis Premier/Division 1 Team of the Year 2016 

Sutton TA 18U Boys 

Aegon Team Tennis Division 2A - 2K Team of the Year 2016 

Oxshott Village Red Team 

Surrey LTA Development Coach of the Year 2016 Mark Love 

Surrey LTA Performance Coach of the Year 2016 David Lovejoy/David Cox 

Surrey LTA Junior Tennis Volunteer of the Year 2016 Bryan Jepp 

The Roger Webb Cup for Endeavour (Boys) Josh Goodger 

The Jean Thirlwall Cup for Endeavour (Girls) Daisy Phillips 

The East London Progress Cup (Boys) Alastair Gray 

The Surrey Patrons Progress Cup (Girls) Gemma Heath 


people 

Celebration of Surrey Tennis. 

RAC Club on Friday 20 May 

On the evening of Friday 20 May 

2016, Surrey held a Celebration 

of Surrey Tennis to recognise the 

achievements of 2015. The building 

and beautiful grounds of the RAC 

Club enhanced the mood of the 

evening. 

County Secretary, Roy Staniland, 

was Master of Ceremonies for 

the evening. Simon Jones, Head 

of Performance Support at the 

Lawn Tennis Association, spoke 

and the awards and trophies were 

presented by the County President, 

John Phillips. 

The first part of the evening was 

dedicated to trophy presentations 

to all players and coaches whose 

contribution to County Cup tennis, 

both junior and open, resulted 

in Tennis Surrey winning the 

inaugural Aegon County Cup 

Champions Race. Unfortunately, 

not all were able to attend, but 

their trophies were delivered to 

them after the event. 

County Colours were awarded 

to Stefan Sterland-Markovic, Jamie 

Whiteford and Mark Whitehouse. 

Bouquets were presented to 

current and former Ladies County 

Cup Captains, Mandy Spicer, Julie 

Willson and Sheila Berditt, and a 

special presentation was made to 

Pamela Willson in recognition of 

her contribution to Junior County 

Cup tennis in Surrey as a volunteer 

over many years. Other former 

County Cup Captains, Keith Glass, 

Roger Draper and Jeff Hunter, were 

unable to attend the evening but 

sent their best wishes. 

We rounded off the evening with 

the presentation of Aegon British 

Tennis Awards to the County 

winners - Milton Gayle, Chris 

Starrett (Surbiton Racket & Fitness 

Club), Rashid Ahmad (Churchfields 

Recreation Ground), Mark Evans 

and Laura Boyle (Pensford Tennis 

Club). 

The following three winners had 

been selected by a regional panel 

to be forwarded to a shortlist for 

consideration for a national award 

- Charlotte McKay, Bryan Jepp 

(collected in his absence by Adrian 

Burton) and Mark Love, who we 

discovered only that morning had 

been named as the National Coach 

of the Year 2015! 


county cup 

12U Boys 

County Cup: Another fantastic 

year for Surrey! 

Further domination from the Boys U12, U10, U14 teams and a phenomenal 

performance by the Surrey Ladies reinforced Surrey’s position as top of the 

county pile. 

9U: So Close! 

Team Manager Tom Crisp 

Coach Claire Webb 

Team Sienna Calvert, Christine 

Fourie, Alexia Litten, Hannah 

Doyle, Toby Clarke, William Lorde, 

Sammy Khediri, Max Carrier 

Surrey were accompanied in Group 

G by Kent, Middlesex and Sussex 

and what a group it was. Surrey 

eventually came through in second 

place after three very strong 

performances. 

Team Manager Tom Crisp 

reflected on the day: “The team 

did so well to fight back and get so 

close to winning, and then also did 

10U Boys 


county cup 

12U Girls 

a great job picking themselves up 

to come back to win the remaining 

two ties. Hopefully next year we 

can go one better and pick up the 

win. Special mentions go to Sami, 

on top form all day to win all his 

singles matches in straight sets. 

William and Christine for winning 

all 3 mixed doubles matches 

and especially to Christine who 

went the whole day undefeated, 

winning all 6 of the matches she 

played in. It was a great team effort 

so a big well done to all them all!” 

12U Boys: County Cup 

Champions… and the 

first team to defend 

the title 

Team Manager Matt Trevail 

Coach Ben Cullen 

Team Raffaello Papajcik, 

Mukhtar Andu, Finn Doyle, Daniel 

Abernethy, George Shields 

With Avon the opponents and 

leading 2-1 it went to the doubles 

again, with Raffa and Dan 

feeling well rested and ready to 

go against J’Quon and James. A 

great aggressive start and the boys 

were 3-0 up and flying, but a few 

unforced errors going for big shots 

and losing three games in a row 

on sudden-death deuce took it out 

of them and they lost the first set 

on a tie-break. A valiant fightback 

in the second to win 4-2 took it to 

a 3rd set tiebreak. Despite saving 4 

match points, they lost 10-7. 

A shootout decider for the 3rd 

time in the competition would 

decide who would win the title! 

Feeling confident and rested after 

a good win in the singles, Finn 

switched with Dan and Raffa/ 

Finn renewed an old doubles 

partnership from a few years 

ago. Some patient focused play 

from the back of the court and 

fantastically timed interceptions 

at the net brought up 4 match 

points. One was saved, but the 

second saw an incredible reversing 

smash from Raffa and the boys had 

done it County Cup Champions 

2016 and the first team to defend 

the title! 

Ladies: The 15 Club is an 

elite club, especially in 

Group 1 

Team Manager Mandy Spicer 

Team Melanie South, Charlotte 

Pearce, Natasha Starling, Laura 

Peterzan, Jasmine Asghar, Lily 

Miyazaki, Laura Slater, Candy Reid- 

Harrop 

The Surrey Ladies came into their 

final day of county week having 

had only dropped 3 rubbers. After 

emphatic wins over Warwickshire, 

Lancashire, Norfolk and Kent, 

Surrey Pair Jazz Asghar and Candy 

Reid were yet to drop a set! Team 

Manager Mandy Spicer reflected on 

the last day: 

“After having realised we were 

actually already champions even if 

we lost every match against Bucks, 

who were unusually mid table, 

meant a strange climax to the 

week. The Bucks Captain, Alison 

was very conscious that Jazz and 

Candy were on for 15 and assured 

me that all their matches would 

be played. Which we all very much 

appreciated especially with Mel 

having been robbed of her 15th 

rubber in similar circumstances 

two years ago. 

Bucks have a very strong 1st pair 

of Julia Bone and Jemima King, 

they beat Vicky and Steph but 

Mel and Charlotte played a great 

match to better them. Jazz and 

Candy still unbeaten on 14 and 

physically exhausted now faced 

their toughest challenge of the 

week, the most experienced pair at 

the event against a pair who’d only 

met each other for the first time 

on Sunday afternoon. Experience 

won the first set, was the bubble 

about to burst? They dug deep and 

won the second set so all to play for 

in the third and the momentum 

hopefully with Surrey when 

suddenly it was put it to us that 

the referee would prefer the girls 

to play a deciding tie break as in 

theory it was a ‘dead match’ and 

all the other courts had finished 

for the day! Not easy to adjust 

the mental approach especially 

when all they’ve achieved all 

week could be suddenly gone in a 

handful of minutes! Bucks raced 

to a 5/2 lead, I was cringing in 

the side of the court, goodness 

knows how they felt, somehow 


county cup 

Ladies County Week Champions 

they turned it around, sheer 

guts and determination and a 

couple of extraordinary points 

and took it 10/7. What an amazing 

achievement for Jazz and Candy, 

the 15 Club is an elite club 

especially in group 1 (and as third 

pair). A fantastic week for Surrey.” 


Champions for the first 

time in the event’s 16- 

year history 

Team Manager David Lovejoy 

Coach David Cox 

Team Kai-Luca Ampaw, Jamie 

Diack, Henry Jefferson, Alexandre 

Gruffat 

The format for the National Finals 

was different to qualifying with 

eight teams in two boxes of four 

teams, with the winner of each 

box playing each other in the final. 

Surrey reached the final against 

Hertfordshire, Team Manager 

David Lovejoy explains how the 

final match transpired: 

“After the first two singles 

matches against Hertfordshire 

we found ourselves 2-0 up with 

the 3rds to play. A win at 3 would 

make the doubles academic and 

Surrey would be the 10 & Under 

County Cup Champions. After 

holding and losing a match 

point in the second set tie-break 

Alexandre found himself in a 

tough 10 point shootout to decide 

the tie. Alexandre regrouped and 

refocused and played some great 

positive tennis to win the tie-break 

after a nail biting finish 10-7 and 

in doing so Surrey were the boys 

Under 10s County Cup Champions 

for the first time in the event’s 16 

year history” 


Champions 

Team Manager Shaun Malcolm 

Coach Josh Miller 

Team Benjamin Heynold, Arthur 

Fery, Jorge Beltrao, Harry Hewing, 

Vraj Patel, Guy den Ouden 

“The boys had created a fantastic 

team spirit in fighting back in the 

group stage. On Sunday we had a 

great warm up and the team were 

excited about the day ahead. Guy 

den Ouden was our star man, at 

4th player, and got us off to an 

amazing start. We have never seen 

so many winners. Jorge Beltrao 

came through a close match at 

player 3 but did well to use his 

forehand effectively. Arthur Fery 

also did a great job on the last day 

using his skill and movement to 

get the win. Benjamin Heynold 

had a tough match against another 

GB player Peter Alam to win the 

County Cup. He came through 

and the boys joined him on court 

to celebrate. Well done to Vraj and 

Harry who played in the doubles in 

the Final.” 


promotion 

Success for Great Britain and 

Surrey brothers in the European 

Deaf Tennis Championships 

Pheobe Suthers 

Geraint Richards, the Tennis 

Foundation’s Head of Disability 

Player Performance, took his GB 

players to the 13th European Deaf 

Tennis Championships in Portoroz, 

Slovenia on 4 - 11 June 2016. Surrey 

were proudly represented by the 

Clifton family of Jack and Toby 

who play at Purley. 

Organised by the Slovenian 

Deaf Sports Association under the 

auspices of the European Deaf 

Sports Organisation, the event 

incorporated the 1st European 

Deaf Junior Tennis Championships, 

with Great Britain fielding 

players in both senior and junior 

championships. Geraint Richards 

commented: “On the back of a 

successful 1st World Deaf Tennis 

Championships in Nottingham 

last summer, we went to Slovenia 

with another squad which blended 

youth with experience as we build 

towards the 2017 Deaflympics in 

Turkey. 

“There were some very 

promising performances from 

our players in the senior events in 

Nottingham. Lewis remains our 

most experienced squad member 

and was a doubles medallist at 

the last European Championships 

in 2012, where Jack also won his 

first international medal claiming 

silver in the boys’ singles. This 

time Jack goes into another major 

championships with valuable 

experience gained from recently 

completing his first year playing 

college tennis in the USA.” 

Medals for Surrey pair as 

well as six for the team 

Toby Clifton and brother Jack 

Clifton both finished the European 

Championships with medals after 

Jack partnered Lewis Fletcher to 

win the men’s doubles bronze 

medal on the penultimate day of 

competition 

“We are delighted by the 

performances of our Great 

Britain squad at the European 

Championships and to come back 

with six medals is tremendous 

achievement,” said Geraint 

Richards, “From Jack and Lewis, 

bettering their seeding to win 

the men’s doubles bronze medal 

through to Freya winning her first 

international medal on her Great 

Britain debut, we are very proud of 

them all and we have much to look 

forward as we work towards future 

championships and the 2017 

Deaflympics.” 

“This has been a very memorable 

European Championships with 

so many promising performances 

for the future,” added Catherine 

Fletcher, the Tennis Foundation’s 

National Deaf Tennis Coach. 

“This has been the first European 

Championships at which I haven’t 

been a player and after winning 

mixed doubles bronze with Lewis 

in 2012 it has been great to see our 

senior players win bronze in the 

men’s doubles and watch and study 

the growth of all our GB players 

alongside the emergence of other 

players from different countries. 

“The performances of our junior 

players have been very exciting and 

they have all acquitted themselves 

admirably and gained invaluable 

experience. We can look forward 

to next year’s Deaflympics with a 

solid foundation and I’m sure we 

will inspire many more people to 

take up the sport so they can enjoy 

playing it with friends and family 

or even end up representing their 

country!” 

Find out more on the new 

Tennis Foundation website: 

www.tennisfoundation.org.uk 

Twitter: @Tennisfndation 

Instagram: Tennis_Foundation 

Facebook: TennisFoundation1 

YouTube: Tennis Foundation 


promotion 

Surrey Coach Kate Maurici 

recalls her Miss-Hits experience 

with Judy Murray 

Kate Maurici, Miss-Hits coach, based at Sheen Common recounts her 

experience at the Royal Albert Hall with Judy Murray. 

I hadn’t set foot in the Royal Albert 

Hall for over 20 years when I 

went up with one of our Miss-Hits 

Players, Evie Forde, to meet Judy 

Murray and take part in a Miss-Hits 

demonstration at the beginning of 

the ATP Champions Tournament. 

I met Evie in the café who was, 

as usual a wonderful mixture 

of super excited to meet Judy, 

determined to put on a great 

show of all her Miss-Hits skills, 

and secretly hoping she might 

win something. As we emerged 

into the Arena of the Albert Hall, 

Evie gasped slightly. It’s an awe 

inspiring venue, as I remembered 

from playing in orchestras there 

as a teenager. We were greeted by 

Judy and her team, who got the 

girls going straight away with their 

trademark Miss-Hits dance moves. 

Now these girls were an eclectic 

mix of Miss Hits players. Some had 

never done Miss-Hits, or picked up 

a racket. Others had. No-one knew 

more than one other person there. 

Within 5 minutes of dancing to 

the very easy to follow moves, the 

girls were all laughing and joking 

together. Had you lined up the girls 

on an indoor mini-tennis court and 

told them to hit a forehand and 

run round the court, I doubt very 

much whether they would have 

bonded at all. In fact, I imagine 

some would not have even wanted 

to join in. 

This is the beauty of the Miss- 

Hits model. You may criticise it 

for being pink and girly, but in 

fact it is making tennis skills and 


promotion 

fitness, fun and achievable. Even 

as a fairly fit coach, after batting 

a balloon up in the air with most 

parts of my body and then having 

to lie down completely and stand 

up again keeping the balloon in 

the air, I felt pretty warmed up to 

say the least. With all the Miss-Hits 

exercises and games, you laugh, 

you make mistakes, but you do 

practice essential tennis skills over 

and over again. 

Back to Evie. Now Evie has 

progressed with her tennis 

brilliantly since starting Miss Hits 

a couple of years ago on Sheen 

Common near Richmond. She 

now belts an orange ball across 

a nearly full sized court. Was she 

standing refusing to join in saying 

the games were silly? Not exactly. 

As I fed the sponge balls towards 

her she stood ready like a cat to 

pounce on them. This was not a 

joke. Evie wanted to succeed at 

these exercises with balls, scarves 

and balloons as much as she wants 

to win a point in a tie-break on 

a real court. The games are also 

a great leveler. Some of the girls 

clearly played lots of tennis. Others 

hadn’t but the girls could complete 

and play alongside each other 

having fun. 

Everyone’s favourite game is 

the burger race. Just imagine a 

relay, where each time a new girl 

joins the first runner they have an 

orange fluff ball which they have 

to squash between their partner’s 

Miss-Hits bat and theirs. (It is a bat, 

not a racket). By the time you get 

5 girls involved, it’s a huge many 

layered burger which you have to 

get round a cone and back to the 

start. Evie recognized the game 

straight away. “Right. We need 

tactics”, she said. This Evie knew 

was the last game and she wanted 

to win it. Who said girls weren’t 

competitive? Suddenly, I was the 

pupil. She knew one of the other 

coaches and I were likely to be a bit 

slow and she wanted to make sure 

we knew to squeeze the fluff ball 

between our bats so it wouldn’t 

fall out, and ensure that we went 

the right way round the cone at 

the end so we all stayed together 

and got back over the finish line 

first. Did we win? I can’t quite 

remember, but I do remember 

feeling immensely proud that this 

7 year old girl was clearly thinking 

about tactics to win. 

Oh no, did I forget to mention 

Tim Henman? There he was in 

his Christmas jumper, happily 

rallying with the girls in the 

Gods of the Albert Hall after the 

demonstration. Now there’s a guy 

who, like Judy, recognises that this 

game should be fun. While some 

of the other Miss-Hits mums and 

coaches drifted off to enjoy the 

Champions Tennis, I dashed back 

to Sheen Common on the tube 

to run our adults doubles Davis 

Cup Event (GB versus Belgium). 

Gutted to miss Tim Henman play, 

but delighted to see everyone have 

so much fun on a really windy 

and freezing afternoon on the 

Common. If Miss-Hits encourages 

a few more girls to continue with 

this sport so they can participate 

in similar tournaments when they 

are in their 40s, or take tennis onto 

a higher level, then I feel it has 

done a great thing. 


promotion 

Davis Cup Trophy 

Tour 2016 

There it was, Great Britain had won 

the Davis Cup for the first time 

since 1936 and this magnificent 

trophy was coming to our shores. 

The LTA took the opportunity to 

showcase it and inspire people 

across the country to get involved 

in our great game. 

Throughout 2016, the LTA has 

worked closely with all County 

Associations and the British Tennis 

community to maximise the 

exposure of the Davis Cup Trophy 

to give thousands of new people 

the opportunity to be involved in 

a nationwide tour and to inspire 

and engage the next generation of 

junior players. 

Each county would be allocated 

a day on which to show the trophy. 

In addition to being on display 

at the Aegon Surbiton Trophy 

tournament in early June, our 

day was Wednesday 1 June with 

the trophy available to view in 

Kingston Market Place in the 

morning and at Pensford Tennis 

Club in the evening. 

During the morning event, 

coaches from Surbiton Racket & 

Fitness Club set up mini tennis 

courts in the middle of the Market 

Place and encouraged youngsters 

to get on court to try their hand at 

our wonderful sport. 

Of the evening event, Caroline 

Smee from Pensford TC writes: 

“It has been a pretty momentous 

year for PTC. One of the highlights 

must be being chosen to host the 

Davis Cup Trophy on its victory 

tour of the country. After winning 

the Aegon Surrey Club of the Year 

Award, the LTA decided we would 

be one of the clubs allowed to have 

the Trophy on our premises for an 

evening. The date was Wednesday 

1 June, the time 5pm. Excitement 

mounted among the committee 

members who had volunteered 

to meet and greet this stunning, 

gleaming silver trophy. It duly 

arrived, with its own security 

guards, and safely enclosed in 

several designer suitcases. The base 

was enormous and wedding cakelike, 

bearing the names of all the 

victorious countries throughout 

the years, and the names of each 

of the members of the winning 

team. Finally, the Trophy itself was 

placed on top. The whole edifice, 

positioned in a special blue gazebo, 

was at last on show. 

“It was a very cold evening which 

may have deterred some people 

from attending. However, lots did 

come, including His Worship, the 

Mayor of Richmond, Cllr David 

Linnette, and Mayoress Pippa 

Linnette, and everyone enjoyed 

a convivial PTC open evening 

with tennis, food and drink, 

and of course, took hundreds of 

memorable trophy photographs. 

The only thing missing was Andy 

Murray himself!” 

We discovered that a third 

Surrey venue had been chosen at 

short notice to host the Trophy, 

which duly visited Wigmore Tennis 

Club in Streatham for the Great 

British Tennis Weekend Open Day 

on Sunday 17 July. More than 130 

people visited Wigmore to view the 

historic Trophy and participate in 

their GBTW. 

30 tennis in surrey 2016 facebook.com/TennisSurrey www.tennissurrey.org.uk 

photo: Tad Moyseowicz 

photo: Peter Hodsoll

Memories of 1936 

Davis Cup Success 

In a year of Davis Cup Success, Frances Presley, 

wife of ex-Surrey President Ron Presley, recalls her 

memories of 1936. 

I was ten days old when Great 

Britain last won the Davis Cup 

which took place at Wimbledon in 

July 1936. 

The last time that GB had made 

the final was in 1978 and I was 

lucky enough to be there. We had 

watched the British team beat 

New Zealand in the semi-finals 

at Crystal Palace, one of those 

rare matches in which John Lloyd 

could do no wrong, and the rest 

of the team of David Lloyd, Buster 

Mottram and Mark Cox all played 

their part in winning through 

to the final. This was the famous 

occasion when one of the, rather 

more mature lady line judges fell 

asleep on her chair! 

Ron came home one evening in 

November and asked if I would like 

to go to the final which was to be 

held at Palm Springs, California, 

at the Country Club of Mission 

Hills. There were still four boys 

at home, the youngest being 

nine years old, but I had never 

been to California let alone to a 

major occasion like that. A call to 

my parents (what would we do 

without grandparents) and my 

mother, who was a great traveller, 

said “go, go go! 

December in that part of the 

world is all contrasts. In the day 

time the temperature rose to the 

60’s and 70’s but once the sun had 

gone below the mountain range it 

plummeted to freezing and below. 

It was the first time that I had ever 

seen a mink coat being worn over 

a very upmarket track suit, and I 

found out what a condominium 

was. It was also strange to see all 

the Christmas decorations waving 

in the hot sun and then frozen stiff 

at night and I was introduced to 

ice sculpture in the form of swans 

floating on a lake. 

One morning we travelled up 

promotion 

the mountain in a cable car. There 

was snow about a foot deep and ski 

trails all over the place. You could 

look down to the valley and see 

people in shirt sleeves. 

This was the first time John 

McEnroe had played for the USA 

and he blasted his opponents 

off the court. In fact, John Lloyd 

mentioned when he was in 

Belgium, that he had never had 

to face such fierce hitting. Buster 

Mottram was the only GB player 

to win a match beating Brian 

Gottfried, and we lost 4 -1. 

When the matches continued 

after the sun had gone down, guess 

who departed to the warmth of the 

clubhouse and guess who were still 

sitting stoically outside! 

We were not then, the only ones 

with rather old line judges. One of 

our party was heard to say in a very 

loud voice when the line judges 

walked to their positions, ‘I see 

they have brought on the geriatrics 

then’ - not much change in that 

side of the Atlantic then, although 

I don’t think that would happen 

today. 

The hospitality of the Americans 

was quite outstanding. I had never 

seen such fantastic table spreads 

in my life and we were welcomed 

and entertained wherever we went. 

I have two abiding memories of 

the visit. The first was seeing Stan 

Smith put his very new baby son 

into the Davis Cup itself, at that 

time there were only two tiers 

underneath, now there are three. 

The other was a comment made 

by the then Chairman of the All 

England Club, Buzzer Hadingham, 

when he was watching a friendly 

between the LTA and the press. 

The LTA was winning and one of 

the press men, who hit a really 

poor shot, swore very loudly 

ending with “Jesus Christ’! Buzzer 

stood up and said, so that all could 

hear, ‘I don’t think that He will 

help you’. 

www.tennissurrey.org.uk Follow us on twitter @TennisInSurrey tennis in surrey 2016 31 

photo: Tad Moyseowicz

promotion 

Is Surrey coach Nick 

Wheatley the next 

YouTube sensation? 

At the end of 2014 I wanted to do something 

different and came up with the idea of a video 

series filmed at the small venue where I’m Head 

Coach, Hawker Tennis in Kingston. 

There’s plenty of tennis coaching 

material already on YouTube so I 

took a different slant and focussed 

on our own coaching programme, 

using some of the juniors who 

are involved. It would be fun and 

exciting for them, not to mention 

very beneficial for their learning. 

With full support and permission 

from the parents, I cracked on with 

the project. 

To make it different, I added 

some comedy and music to the 

videos. This might not appeal to 

all tastes, but I didn’t want the 

footage to be dull, especially as 

my initial target audience was our 

own junior players. I planned lighthearted 

videos, with content of the 

highest quality, to rival anything 

already out there. 

As a coach this project was a 

fantastic way for me to affirm my 

own coaching philosophies and to 

put them out there to get feedback. 

There were no set number of 

videos at the beginning and no 

detailed plan other than to try 

and cover as much as possible. 

The project did have a one-year 

time frame though as I wanted to 

motivate myself to get it completed 

with a finish point. 

I’m certainly not a natural 

behind the camera and I’m 

no technological whizz either. 

However, with a little research 

and some affordable software, 

I realised it was quite simple to 

make videos with all the features 

I wanted, including pro footage, 

slow-mo’s side-by-side comparisons, 

and much more. Throughout 

the series, my confidence behind 

the camera grew as the project 

progressed. 

I’ve received some great feedback 

from a variety of people, most 

notably top coaches like Miles 

Maclagan, John Yandell, and Judy 

Murray, and current/former pro’s 

Mark Petchey, Danny Sapsford, and 

Marcus Willis. The video project 

has also encouraged me to write a 

series of articles for John Yandell’s 

excellent website TennisPlayer.Net 

(to which all LTA licensed coaches 

have free access too). The articles 

are based on one of my coaching 

concepts, 1-2 Rhythm, and I’ve 

received great feedback so far. 

All in all, it’s been a fantastic 

experience and I’m sure there is 

plenty more to come. I plan to 

release further videos when the 

time is right. 

I would recommend that all 

you highly passionate and driven 

coaches out there try something 

similar. It’s been hard work, but 

well worth every minute! 

Video making process: 

It takes time and hard work to 

produce each video. First you need 

the basic idea, then you must 

script the content, including any 

usage of pro footage and slow-mo 

analysis. Rehearse the scripts and 

then film the clips, along with 

any action shots required. My 

trusty assistant. Jeremy Westcott, 

(who also coaches at Hawker and 

features in some videos) was a 

great help with the filming, and 

was very patient when we needed 

more takes than I would have 

liked. 

After that, you need to review 

the footage and get the clips onto 

the PC from the tablet. Once there, 

they can be touched up with a 

video converter, before going into 

the video editor, where you put the 

clips together, and add voiceovers 

and text as needed. Once happy 

with the final version, it’s then 

ready to be uploaded to YouTube. 

Job done! 


promotion 

Aegon Team Tennis update 

Aegon Team Tennis Surrey 

continued where it left off in 2015 

with another immensely popular 

season. We had 622 teams compete 

in events from 8U up to Open, 

which was an increase of 40 from 

the previous year. These 622 teams 

were from 91 clubs and venues 

around Surrey. 

Congratulations to all teams 

which won their divisions in the 

County Tier of the competition. 

A huge thank you must go to all 

the captains who were pro-active 

in trying to ensure their matches 

were completed. Unfortunately, 

this season we have seen a fall in 

‘matches completed’ from 2015, 

dropping 11.7 per cent to 80 per 

cent. We would love to see that 

percentage rise next year. 

Aegon Team Tennis is a 

nationwide competition and some 

of Surrey’s top teams will take 

part in the Premier Divisions and 

National Tier. In the women’s 2016 

National Tier Finals the hosts, 

West Hants Club, upset the No.2 

seeds and Surrey club, David Lloyd 

Raynes Park, in the semi-final in 

a shoot-out to set up a clash with 

Wilton Tennis Club (a four-court 

venue in South West London). 

Wilton, the 2015 winners, with 

Sarah Beth Grey, Laura Deigman 

(left), Aimee Gibson, Louise Holtum 

and Charlotte Pearce in their team, 

proved too strong. It was level 

after the singles before Wilton 

won both the doubles to take the 

title. Wilton’s Team Manager Terry 

Oakes reflected on the final: “Last 

year’s final was an exceptional 

event which I thought could never 

be equalled, but amazingly it was - 

all thanks to Team Wilton.” 

In the Men’s National Tier 

Finals, Surrey club David Lloyd 

Raynes Park navigated some 

tricky fixtures to reach the final 

against A1 Pharmaceuticals which 

saw Marcus Willis, Pauffley and 

Bothwell win their singles before 

Willis and Pauffley teamed up to 

seal the win with a tight 6-2, 6-7(4), 

[10-5] over Josh Goodall and Jonny 

O’Mara. 

As well as being an excellent 

introduction of players of all ages 

to competitive tennis, Aegon Team 

Tennis is also a fantastic way for 

players to experience playing 

at other clubs and venues. We 

want to ensure players enjoy this 

experience so we always encourage 

teams to let us know when they 

were made to feel welcomed at 

matches by their opponents. 

So, if you do have a great match 

experience at another club or 

venue, please do let us know. 

We hope that Aegon Team 

Tennis Surrey can push on and 

have another very successful year 

in 2017. 


promotion 

Surrey Champions 

in the Nike Junior 

National Tennis 

Championships 2016 

The Nike Junior National Tennis 

Championships again provided 

an action-packed week of high 

quality tennis as some of the best 

youngsters in Great Britain battled 

it out. Previous winners include 

Andy Murray, Dan Evans, Kyle 

Edmund and Heather Watson, 

so the next generation were 

looking to join an illustrious list of 

champions. 

where he toppled top seed, Aidan 

McHugh, 6-3, 7-5. 

16U Girls’ Singles 

Gemma Heath dominated the 

U16 event in Nottingham, not 

losing a set all week. The No. 2 

seed stamped her authority on the 

final against Olivia Peet straight 

from the off and ran out a 6-1, 6-3 

winner. 

16U Boys’ Singles 

Jack Draper edged a thriller with 

defending champion, Paul Jubb 

in the quarter finals on his way to 

the title. The unseeded 14-yearold, 

who is playing in the 16U 

category, then fought back to beat 

Jacob Fearnley to reach the final 

18U Boys’ Singles 

Alastair Gray came through a 

trio of tough three-set matches 

on his way to the U18 title. He 

overcame a titanic tussle with 

Anton Matusevich in the quarter 

finals and fought back in the final 

against Joe Tyler to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. 

18U Boys’ Doubles 

Alastair Gray and Damian 

Rodriguez justified their No. 1 

seeding, ending a strong week to 

overcome Nicholas Brookes and 

Anton Matusevich 6-4, 6-3. 


promotion 

The ITF Woking Open Seniors 

Tournament continues to Grow 

The ITF sanctioned Woking 

tournament was played from 14 

to 18 September 2016 and proved 

once again to be very popular. It 

has now been running for 17 years 

consecutively. The well-looked-after 

Woking Lawn Tennis & Croquet 

Club in Hook Heath continues to 

attract players from all over Britain 

as well as from abroad. The Club’s 

new artificial clay courts were ready 

just prior to the event and there are 

now 6 clay courts in addition to the 

hard courts. 

Finals’ day was appropriately 

the high point of the tournament 

with a number of hard-fought 

high quality matches, mostly three 

setters, which entertained the 

crowd immensely. 

The men’s 35 singles event was 

won by Robert Smith for the second 

year running after the no.1 seed 

Sheriff el Essaily from Egypt had 

lost to Brian Condren from Ireland. 

In the men’s 40 Chris Smith beat 

David King in a close match who 

had earlier disposed of the no.1 seed 

Stephen Jones. 

In the men’s 45 Ian Udal having 

first beaten no. 2 seed John 

Loosemore got the better of the no. 

3 seed Guy Sellek in the final by 7-6 

in the third set. Mark Rowe in the 

50s had a similarly tough match 

to win against Alistair Alexander 

(6-4 in the 3rd), whom he had also 

beaten the year before. In the 55s 

Nigel Mann beat no. 3 seed Neil 

Driver in the semis by 6-4 in the 

3rd before retaining his title by 

defeating Peter Occleshaw 6-3 in the 

3rd. Regular participant and two 

time winner Godfrey Evans had a 

tough three set match against Arun 

Vethakken in the semis of the 60s 

before reversing his loss of last year 

and taking three sets to beat Jasper 

Cooper who had ousted Tony King 

earlier. 

One of the most exciting finals 

took place in the men’s 65 where 

title holder Rennie Johnston came 

back from a set and 5-0 down as 

well as match point down at 5-6 to 

win the match in three gruelling 

sets. David Brazier, winner in 2014, 

defeated Bev Wilson in the 70s and 

Graham Downes won the 75s by 7-5 

in the 3rd. 

The winners of the women’s 

singles events dominated their 

respective age groups which 

suffered somewhat from relatively 

low entries. Maia Dunn won the 35s 

for the third year running, Isabelle 

Tyrrell retained het title in the 45s, 

Alison Taylor won the 50s, Susie 

Reid the 55s and Susan Willoughby 

the 60s. 

The tournament was generously 

supported by the accountancy firm 

of P.G.Fry & Company. Referee Peter 

Grimsdale assisted by wife Angela 

and by Pauline Udal ensured a 

smooth running of the tournament. 

The players enjoyed their 

tournament and the finalists were 

pleased with the prize money. Next 

year the event will be held from 13 

to 17 September 2017 and subject to 

entry numbers it will be attempted 

to play all matches on the clay 

courts. 

All the results are on the ITF 

Seniors website and photos can be 

found on Facebook/wltcc. 


promotion 

9U Boys 

Surrey County 

Championships 2016 

It was the end of August and 

we were back at Sutton Tennis 

Academy for the 2016 County 

Championships. Many thanks to 

Sutton for welcoming both us and 

the players back, for providing 

excellent refreshments and for 

keeping the bad weather at bay. 

Unfortunately, we were unable 

to run any of the qualifying events 

but instead dedicated the first 

two days of competition to the 

Orange event. We watched some 

very entertaining and hard-fought 

tennis matches over the two days 

and everyone went away with 

a certificate to recognise their 

accomplishments. 

The County Champions at 9 & 

Under were Hannah Klugman 

who beat Natasha Cook 7-2, 7-4, 

and Sami Khediri who beat Oliver 

Bonding 7-0 7-3. We anticipate 

great things from all these players. 

Tuesday arrived and we started 

the yellow ball competition 

running singles events in the 12, 

14, 16, 18 and Open categories, 

with doubles events for 12U boys, 

14U girls, 16U boys and Open 

men’s, women’s and mixed. 

In addition to the yellow ball 

competition was the Green event 

for boys and girls. This year we 

introduced a Green Mixed Doubles 

event which attracted much 

interest. Kai-Luca Ampaw and Alex 

Gruffat ran out winners in this, 

beating Joseph Blackman and 

Joshua Pye in the final 0-4, 4-2, 

1-0(2). I think we will certainly run 

this event again in 2017. 

The Red event was held indoors 

on the final day of the tournament 

alongside the Finals, which were 

played outdoors on the clay courts. 

A total of 173 red matches were 

played on the day so credit must 

go to all the players as well as the 

court assistants who helped with 

the scoring on each court. Many of 

the matches were excellent, which 

bodes well for the future of tennis 

in our county. At the end of play, 

8U Boys 

Matthew Ground won the boys’ 

event, beating Freddie Johnson 

10-0, with Hannah Klugman 

triumphing in the girls’, beating 

Martha Ground 10-6. 

As with every year, I can’t 

thank David Fuchs and Tim 

Pearce enough for their pure 

professionalism in running this 

tournament. Their contribution 

makes the Surrey Championships a 

great event. 

Chris Risebro 


promotion 

10U Boys 

12U Girls 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

9U Girls 

8U Girls 

Honours 

Event Winner runner Up 

8U Boys Matthew Ground Freddie Johnson 

8U Girls Hannah Klugman Martha Ground 

9U Boys Samy Khediri Oliver Bonding 

9U Girls Hannah Klugman Natasha Cook 

10U Boys Henry Jefferson Kai-Luca Ampaw 

10U Girls Sirena Waas Perumal Thalia Remice 

12U Boys Daniel Abernethy Alexander Ceban 

12U Girls Lucy Webber Amelia Tye 

14U Boys Haruki Omori-Cowie Finn Doyle 

14U Girls Leah Gonzales-Edwards Hattie Vanneman 

16U Boys Ivor Mandic Vraj Patel 

16U Girls Danielle Hack Alexandra McDonald 

18U Boys Dan Siddall David Brehme 

18U Girls Danielle Hack Gemma Southwick 

Open Men Deji Thomas-Smith Dan Siddall 

Open Women Daisy Phillips MJ Changwereza 

18U Girls 

18U Boys 

10U Mixed Doubles 

Kai-Luca Ampaw/Alex Gruffat 

Joseph Blackman/Joshua Pye 

12U Boys Doubles 

Daniel Abernethy/Matthew Bates 

Luke Griffiths/Frank Johnson 

14U Girls Doubles 

Evie Davey/Hattie Vanneman 

Georgiana Parr/Amelia Tye 

16U Boys Doubles 

Taylor Papworth/Toby Rust 

Jorge Beltrao/Ivor Mandic 

Open Men’s Doubles 

Jack Gibbens/James Gibbens 

David Brehme/Stephen Gibbons 

Open Women’s Doubles 

Sophie Norris/Nina Nunukova 

Jordayne McGowan-Paul/Gemma Southwick 

Open Mixed Doubles 

Callum McCarty/Katie Morris 

Matthew Beecher/Nina Nunukova 

Quorn Family Cup 

James Kober/James Kober 

Jamie Forrest/William Forrest 


esults 

SURREY COUNTY 

LAWN TENNIS ASSOCIATION 

LEAGUE and knockout RESULTS 2016 

Winter Junior Knockout 

Boys 10: Archie Adams 

(Westside LTC) 

Girls 10: Valentina Carrier 

(David Lloyd Raynes Park) 

Boys 12: Tom Dunlop 

(Roehampton Club) 

Girls 12: Islay Thornicroft 

(Wigmore LTC) 

Boys 14: Elliot Glaysher 

(Surrey Sports Park 

Guildford) 

Girls 14: Sophie Dulieu 


Boys 16: Harry Neate 

(Bourne Club LTC) 

Girls 16: Natalie Olsen 

(Epsom LTC) 

WINTER Individual 

Knockout 

Men’s Open: Daniel 

Carpenter (Surbiton) 

Men’s 035: Joe Barnes 

(Infinity Coaching) 

Men’s O45: Asif Afridi 

(Wilton Tennis Club) 

Men’s O55: David Lyonette 

(Telford Park) 

Men’s O60: Carlyle Pavey 

(Virgin Active Surrey) 

Ladies Open: Eleanor 

Cross (Purley) 

Ladies O35: Cheryl Piper 

(David Lloyd Raynes Park) 

Ladies O40: Susie Reid 


Ladies O50: Susie Reid 


Ladies O60: Rosemary 

Wilson (Bourne Club) 

Winter Individual 

Knockout Doubles 

Men’s Open: Mattew 

Henley/Simon Targett 


Men’s O45: Bernd 

Stuebing/Tim Welsh 


Men’s O55: Mario Fonda/ 

Chris Gotla 

(The Wimbledon Club) 

Ladies Open: Carolyn 

Fisher/Louise Ryan (Purley) 

Ladies O40: Alison 

Jacobs/Bim Newton 


Ladies O50: Jane Green/ 

Lynne Hunt (David Lloyd 

Woking) 

Ladies O60: Denise 

Gwatkin/Gerry Skeens (The 

Wimbledon Club) 

Mixed Open: Simon 

Targett/Catherine Rose 


WINTER Team Knockout 

Men’s Grade A: Westside 

LTC 

Men’s Grade B: Horsley 

Ladies Grade A: Wilton 

LTC 

Ladies Grade B: Purley 

Bury 

Men’s O45: Roehampton 

Club 

Men’s O55: Purley 

Ladies O40: St.George’s 

Hill LTC 

SUMMER Junior 

Knockout 

Boys 10: Rohan Madaher 

(YMCA London S.W) 

Girls 10: Anya Hamilton 

(Reigate Priory) 

Boys 12 A: Thomas Lander 

(Walton on Thames) 

Boys 12 B: Harry Coxon 

(Foxhills) 

Girls12: India Henke 

(Sutton Tennis Academy) 

Boys 14 A: William 

Farnfield (Bourne Club) 

Boys 14 B: Mathieu Quinn 

(Putney) 

Boys 16: William Farnfield 

(Bourne Club) 

Girls 16: Christina Georgiou 

(Oxshott) 

SUMMER Individual 

Knockout 

Men’s Open: Mark Eori 

(Westside) 

Men’s 035: Patrick Ewe 

(Magdalen Park) 

Men’s O45: Andrew 

Middleton (Purley) 

Men’s O55: Tony Marshall 

(Westside) 

Men’s O60: David 

Mullarkey (Purley) 

Ladies Open: Ellie Cross 

(Purley) 

Ladies O35: Natalie Wix 

(Grafton) 

Ladies O40: Anthea 

Hurley (Westside) 

Ladies O50: Alison Hannah 

(Westside) 

Ladies O60: Rosemary 

Wilson (Bourne Club) 

SUMMER Individual 

Knockout Doubles 

Men’s Grade A: Mark Eori/ 

David McCall (Westside) 

Men’s Grade B: Toby 

Feakins/Tim Hill (Magdalen 

Park) 

Men’s O45: Terry Clarke/ 

Mark Winton (Byfleet) 

Men’s O55: Tony Marshall/ 

Tony Tsoukkas (Westside) 

Ladies Grade A: Daisy 

Leckie/Meg Leckie 

(Magdalen Park) 

Ladies Grade B: Miriam 

Davies/Heather Taylor 

(Redhill) 

Ladies O40: Anne Clark/ 

Hazel Middleton (Purley) 

Ladies O50: Anne Clark/ 

Amanda Willis (Purley) 

Ladies O60: Linda Stirk/ 

Sue Willoughby (Byfleet) 

Mixed Grade A: Mark 

Eori/Martina Jackaninova 

(Westside) 

Mixed Grade B: 

Christopher Kennedy/ 

Catherine Kennedy (Purley 

Bury) 

Mixed O45: Peter Walsh/ 

Debbie Ankrah (Purley) 

SUMMER Team 

Knockout 

Men’s Grade A: Westside 

LTC 

Men’s Grade B: Thames 

Ditton 

Ladies Grade A: Putney 1 

Ladies Grade B: Purley 

Bury 

Surrey Winter League 

2015-16 

Men’s Div 1: 

Sutton Tennis & Squash 1 

Roehampton 1 

Westside 1 

Wilton 1 

Putney 1 

Purley 1 



Dulwich 1 

Wimbledon 1 

Wentworth 1 

Surbiton 1 

Westside 1 


Limpsfield 1 

Magdalen Park 1 

Southfields 1 

St.George’s Hill 1 


Epsom 1 


Oxshott 1 

Putney 2 

Coombe Wood 1 


Westside 1 

Byfleet 1 

Ladies Div 1: 

Virgin Active Surrey 1 

Putney 1 

St George’s Hill 1 


esults 

Wimbledon Club 1 

Roehampton Club 1 

Surbiton 1 

Ladies Div 2: 

Wilton 1 

Westside 1 

Westside 2 


Westside 3 

Shirley Park 1 

Ladies Div 3: 

Byfleet LTC 1 


Purley 1 

Limpsfield 1 

Reigate 1 

Bourne 1 

Ladies Div 4: 


Byfleet LTC 2 

Elstead 1 



David Lloyd Raynes Park 1 

Ladies Midweek Div 1: 

Westside 1 

Sheen 1 


Woking A 

Oxshott A 



Bourne 1 

Horsley 1 

Elstead 1 


Banstead Downs 1 

Pit Farm 


Purley 1 

Oxshott B 

Epsom 1 

Limpsfield 1 

Reedham Park 1 

Putney 1 


West Surrey 1 

Will to Win Sheen 1 

Old College 1 

Pensford 1 

Claygate 1 

Westside 2 

Ladies Over 50 Div 1: 

Wimbledon Club 1 

Byfleet 



Claygate 1 



David Lloyd Woking 1 

Reigate Priory 

Reigate 


Westside 1 


Westside 2 


Cheam Fields 

Walton on Thames 1 


Claygate 2 

Cobham 1 


Surrey Summer League 

2016 


Putney 1 

ST&SC 1 


Westside 1 

ST&SC 2 

Westside 2 


Wentworth 1 

Purley Sports 1 


St. George’s Hill 1 

Limpsfield 1 

Dulwich 1 


Wilton 1 

Putney 2 

The Wimbledon Club 1 


Southfields 1 

Woking LTCC A 


Oxshott 1 



Old College 1 

Westside 3 

Westside 4 

Ladies Div 1: 




Westside 1 

Virgin Active 1 

Westside 2 

Ladies Div 2: 

Putney 1 



Surbiton 1 

Wilton 1 


Ladies Div 3: 

Byfleet LTC 1 

Westside 3 



Wigmore 1 

Virgin Active 2 

Ladies Div 4: 

Limpsfield 1 

David Lloyd Woking 

Byfleet LTC 2 



Grafton 1 

Mixed Div 1: 

ST&SC 1 

Westside 1 



Westside 2 


Mixed Div 2: 




South Croydon 1 



Mixed Div 3: 

Woodfield Grove 1 



Wilton 1 



Mixed Div 4: 

Westside 3 


Walton 1 

Camber 1 

Old College 1 

Coombe Wood 1 


Key Tennis Dates – 2017 

Australian Open 

16 - 29 January 

Aegon Team Tennis Season 

2 April – 2 July 

French Open 

29 May – 11 June 

Aegon Surbiton Trophy 

3 – 11 June 

Aegon Open Nottingham 

10 – 18 June 

Aegon Manchester Trophy 

11 – 18 June 

Aegon Ilkley Trophy 

17 – 25 June 

Aegon Classic Birmingham 

17 – 25 June 

Aegon Championships Queens Club 

19 – 25 June 

Aegon International Eastbourne 

23 June – 1 July 

Wimbledon - The Championships 

3 – 16 July 

Aegon Summer County Cup (County Week) 

24 – 28 July 

Surrey County Championships 

27 August to 3 September 

US Open 

28 August – 19 September 

WTA Finals – Singapore 

23 – 30 October 

Barclays ATP World Tour Finals 

13 - 19 November

Tennis in Surrey Magazine 2016

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