CAPTAINS REPORT
After qualifying locally at Kings TC against other south west counties, our 11U Girls team ventured to Wrexham for the National finals.
The Team was Olivia, Febe, Lara, Natalia and Rebecca, in LTA ranking order.
With 8 teams making the finals, Avon was placed in a box with Suffolk, Middlesex and Leicestershire. On Friday, Avon had a great day without a loss, beating Suffolk 6-0 after tight matches, but all going our way. We then started our next match v Middlesex at the end of Friday and our 4th player Rebecca, unexpectedly beat a top 50 ranked player, but unfortunately when the match continued on Saturday, we didn’t manage another win against Middlesex; so lost 5-1.
It’s is worth mentioning Middlesex had the number 8 and 12 ranked players in the country, plus the rest ranked in the top 50 and Natalia and Rebecca also had a match point in their doubles, which would have stirred things up before the final doubles with Olivia and Febe. The other matches were close to. Later in the day the Girls beat Leicestershire 5-1 and came second in their box. This meant on Sunday morning Avon played Yorkshire for 3rd place. Unfortunately, after 3 matches in 30-degree heat on Saturday, Olivia felt very sick on Sunday morning and wasn’t able to compete. This meant the girls team had to fight this one without their top ranked player. The whole team put up a great fight, and after very long and tight matches, Yorkshire took the final win 5-1 after Febe and Lara lost a match breaker in the doubles; so Avon came a incredibly proud 4th overall in the country.
All in all, a great weekend of tennis, laughter and high emotions. Both players and parents showed amazing support for each other and coaches, and respect to the opposition, plus love for the sport.