Taunton player reaches last four at Wimbledon

Matt Bernard of Taunton Tennis Club reached the semi-finals of the over-35 British Veterans Grass Court Championships at Wimbledon last week.

Although unseeded, Bernard, a teacher at Heathfield Community School, beat the 4th seed 6-3, 7-5 in the first round, which was played on the Wimbledon practice courts at Aorangi Park. After a comfortable win in the second round, he beat the 5th seed 6-1, 7-5 in the quarter-final to secure a place in the semi-finals, where he came up against the 2nd seed, Andy Burgoyne.

“I was fortunate enough to play the semi-final on Court 18, which was the court where Jon Isner won that marathon match this year,” said Bernard. “But in true Wimbledon fashion the rain came down after the second set, and we were eventually moved indoors.”

After losing the first set 6-4 and winning the second 7-6, Bernard quickly found himself 5-0 down in the final set. Although he revived to take the next three games, the 2nd seed then held serve to go through to the final.

Another Taunton-based player, Nigel Barker of Trull Tennis Club, reached the quarter-finals of the over-65 tournament. Barker, seeded 3rd, went down 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 to 5th seed Norman Church in an event won by Mark Cox.