August 2016 - The St Georges Hill Open 2016

The third week of summer competition saw 6 boys travelling to Surrey for the prestigious Grade 3 Open at St Georges Hill Open.

This tournament is one of the highlights of the summer with 30 courts, 15 on grass and a high level of competition and large draws, most 64 players deep.

Ollie Richards chose to play in the 16U and 18U age groups although he is only 14.

In the 18’s Oliver was drawn against the experienced Ben Robinson, Ben also from Kent proved a tough opponent and following a 2-6 first set Ollie managed to force a tiebreak in the second but ultimately lost 2-6, 6-7 (5). This was a great experience for Ollie particularly as he was playing up 4 years.

The first day saw many great matches with Seb McDonnell Palomares winning his first round against Finn Everett 6-0, 6-2. This match set Seb up for a tough second round draw where he would take on the number 7 seed Aaron Robinson. Aaron is a very experienced player and Seb used all his skills to make the match as competitive as possible, ultimately losing  7-5, 6-4.

In the boys 14U draw Appeti Tennis was well represented by Joseph, Seb and Ciaran.

Joseph played a great first round match beating Thomas Driscoll before losing to 6th seed Scott Whiting 4-1, 4-2. Seb made the third round before being drawn against the number 1 seed Jorge Beltrao, Seb, as always, used all his skills to make the most of the match but ultimately lost 6-3, 6-1.

Ciaran Brewer had the best run in the boys 14U draw beating 5th seed Gianluca Berto 2-4, 4-2, 12-10 in the third round and then Daniel Prickett 6-1, 6-4 to make it through to the quarter final. Here he would face the number 4 seed Adam Walker, after losing the first set 3-6, Ciaran rallied to tie the match with a 6-4 set in the second set, unfortunately an extremely close third set tie break saw Ciaran lose 3-6, 6-4, 8-10.

In the boys 10U Ulrich made a strong start making it through to the semi finals, unfortunately he was beaten there by Henry Jefferson in 2 tie break sets 4-3 (1), 4-3 (4).

The stand out performance of the week came from Ollie Richards in the 16U boys draw where he battled a vast 64 draw to make the final where he unfortunately lost to Jamie Boden 7-5, 6-3. Ollie had a great week and showed how well he is able to compete in the older age groups.

The team will now move on to Tunbridge Wells and Ollie will be playing in the The Road to Wimbledon National Finals.

Click here to see photos from the week.