Tennis Season’s Last Serve
The weekend of the 22nd June saw Jannik Sinner lift the Halle trophy, Tommy Paul lift the Queens Club trophy and Zaki and Dhyan (L4) lift the much more prestigious Bancroft’s Boys Inter-Year Doubles Trophy!
Just like the girls event (won by Elora and Mia), this tournament was for Thirds to U4ths at West Grove with a round-robin followed by a main draw knock-out and Plate events. Arthur & Sam (Rem), Ryan & Miles (L4), Henry & Shaan (U4) and Shalen & Spencer (Rem) made it to the quarter finals but Ryan & Jake (Thirds), Dhruv & Yuvraj (Rem), Eashan & Arhan (Rem) and Zaki & Dhyan (L4) were the 4 teams progressing to the semi-finals. After some very competitive matches, Zaki & Dhyan made it through to the final where they took on Eashan & Arhan. The final was a truly nail-biting affair, and the closest final I have ever seen…it came down to the very last point (3-3 in games, 6-6 in the shoot-out tie-break) and the sudden death point was won…on a net-cord where the ball hit the net and dribbled over! Zaki & Dhyan were as elated as Eashan & Arhan were sportsmanlike in defeat – the younger pair set a fine example to everyone on how to graciously accept a tough loss.
As with the girls’ event, it was nice to see so many of the boys who had played in FUNbledon earlier in the term have the confidence to enter this more advanced event. Many of the older boys were very supportive of the less experienced players (Shaan, Henry, Alex and Aarav especially). Congratulations to Ishaan & Aran and Aahill & Ivan who made to the 2 Plate Finals as well, and to Jun-le & Eesa (Thirds) and Georgi & Sami (Thirds) on their Plate victories!
The U12/13 and U15 Mixed teams also took on Trinity that week and came away with tantalisingly close 11-10 and 11-9 wins. The junior team of Bethan, Zara, Nell, Arthur, Kaelan, Shalen, Dhruv, Elora, Ryan, Jeevan, Bea, Grace, Liliana, Jake, Aran and Ishaan fought so well for every point and game, and clearly inspired the U15 team of Shona, Martha, Dhiya, Nikki, Sofiina, Lani, Ayushi, Selin, Zara, Amber, Niamh, Mia, Shrey, Martin, Henry, Shaan, Luke, Rayaan, Hsian Yang, Chichi and Josh to replicate their performance.
Early on in week 9 the U14 Mixed team brought home a nice 9-9 draw after the girls beat Chigwell 6-3 and the boys were just edged out 3-6. Charlotte, Isla, Ami, Maya, Gia, Ivy, Violet and Emily combined nicely with Nathan, Ryan, Jamie, Dhyan, Zaki, Miles, Aarav, Asvin and Alex in this “local derby”.
At the end yet another magnificent term, I would like to say a huge thank you to all the Bancroftians who have dedicated so much of their time and effort to the Tennis Club, fixtures and tournaments. Bring on Wimbledon! 
