After 4 weeks of training the 10U girls Kent team - Sasha Hill, Eloise Locke, Pheobe Watton, Tiegan Aitken and Suzana Rudniskaite took to the courts to compete in the first stage of the county cup competition. Six teams were divided into two groups of 3, Kent being paired with Sussex and Berkshire whilst Surrey, Dorset and Hampshire and Isle of Wight made up the other group. The top two teams from each would make it through to the semi finals whereas the bottom teams would play for 5^th & 6^th positions on the second day.

First up for us was Sussex and we started well with a win for Tiegan at 3, Eloise then lost at number 2 and Sasha went down in an exciting match against their number 1 player, so at 2-1 down we had to win the doubles to take it to a sudden death tiebreak, unfortunately Sasha and Tiegan lost in two very close sets to Sussex’s doubles pairing.

And so we had to beat Berkshire in order to have a chance of qualifying in the top two and making it through to the semi finals and retain a chance of gaining a place in the main finals to be held in Bolton in two weeks time (only the winners would qualify) solid singles performances from Sasha and Pheobe at 1 and 2 gave us a 2-0 lead, then Suzana was involved in a real tussle which went to a championship tiebreak where she upped her game and gave us an unassailable 3-0 lead after the singles. The fact that Sussex had also beaten Berkshire meant that we were through to the semis but would face a tough challenge in Surrey the next day, it was a great first day though and the girls’ spirits were high as we looked forward to having a shot at them.

The second day and thankfully a little warmer, Sasha and Pheobe took to the courts first and despite a fighting performance Pheobe went down at number 2, then the match of the tournament occurred with Sasha taking down the Surrey number one Abi Taylor in a nerve jangling match tiebreak. So one match apiece as our number 3 Tiegan stepped onto court and even though she lost in what would look on paper very easily I felt she competed really well but I was very impressed with her opponent. So to the doubles and I went with Sasha and Suzanna for this must win match, it was a nervy affair with plenty of crowd involvement from both teams. In the end we just came up short 3-5 3-5 and so we had lost to Surrey overall 3-1.

And so our last match against Hampshire and IOW for 3^rd place, with Eloise and Pheobe losing really close competitive singles and Tiegan winning convincingly we were 2-1 down heading into the doubles which Pheobe and Tiegan lost in another match tiebreak.

And so a fourth place finish which could have been so much better for a few points here or there but that is tennis, it was still a really good weekend with a great bunch of girls who I really enjoyed working with and next year we still have Tiegan and Suzana in the team as they were a year young.

Two weeks later Surrey managed to win the whole national competition in Bolton which made our close tussle with them all the more impressive. Well done girls, good job and I look forward to next year

Mark Hayden