Andover C Team, competing in the Basingstoke Tennis League, returned to a winning result after two initial defeats in the 2022 summer campaign.
The winter league saw the C Team finish in second place so confidence was high going into the early matches. The subsequent defeats against Kingsclere and Beechdown B both on a score of 3-5 were disappointing. Both matches were highly competitive, evenly matched and the losses were on small margins.
Jeremy Hann, Ben Mead, Martyn Isherwood and Mark Williams
The latest match was at Andover’s home venue at Balksbury, against Oakley B. Somewhat unusually for a summer fixture this was played on the indoor courts as the Mens’ B Team were playing another competitive club match in what is Andover’s busy competition schedule.
Andover’s first pair was Jeremy Hann and Mark Williams. The second pairing was Ben Mead and Martyn Isherwood who were partnering for the first time.
Mead and Isherwood started against Oakleys stronger pairing of the day. The Andover pair soon settled into their stride and with some adept volleying at the net pulled ahead 4 -1, but the experience and youth on the Oakley side saw them hold their nerve to pull back to 5-5. The mixture of Mead’s powerful forehand from the baseline and Isherwood’s volleying worked well, but Andover’s more assertive style of play ultimately had a lower margin for error and despite good tennis the set was dropped 7-5. The disappointment of the first set did not deter the Andover pair started the second set matching everything Oakley were doing. Oakley just proved to have a few more answers which enabled them to win the second set 6-4.
Hann and Williams had the easier start to the match. The second Oakley pairing proved to be less effective. This allowed Hann and Williams to build up their game and confidence. They moved over the court well, with Hann hitting very refined shots from all points of the court and Williams picking off volleys at the net. The Oakley pair remained deep by their baseline. The Andover pair took the first set at 6-1. The second set saw the Oakley pair coming forward to the net more than in the first which just tested the shot placement for Andover. Clearly a test that was passed with the first set dominance maintained and a 6-3 win. At the half way stage it was two games all.
Mead and Isherwood in their second match were able to flow with their assertive doubles strategy that did not quite see them through their first. The faster pace of ball delivered by Andover was too testing this time and the shorter rallies limited the number of unforced errors. A 6-1, 6-1 win in the second match for Mead and Isherwood was clearly resounding and possibly left them thinking what may have been if their matches were in the opposite order.
Hann and Williams had their greater test in the second. The direct play that had served well in the first match was now being questioned. The Oakley pair were methodical in there returning with some great touches of skill. This was the same question asked of Mead and Isherwood in the first where the more assertive game brought in additional unforced errors. The result was, alas, the same with Andover dropping the first 6-4. However the second set saw the Andover pair come back stronger. The serving of Hann continued with pace and consistency again working into Williams’ presence at the net. At the same time they were capitalising on the slower pace of servicing from Oakley which they had not done in the first set. The second set finished 6-3 to Andover which proved so important on the day.
Three matches in and the C’s have at last their first win of the summer – being on the right side of a 5-3 result! June sees the two final matches of the Summer League being home to Hook and away to Beechdown C. A further win from these fixtures is looking necessary and based on latest performance, should be achievable.
Richard Shipway (Captain)
