Club member Sarah Ball took part in the Racketlon World Championships in Zurich this week playing squash, table tennis, badminton and tennis against each of her opponents in the Womens +50 competition. Sarah won one of her three matches and in each of her other two matches, she won two of the four sports played and finished in 3rd place overall. Against the eventual winner, Sarah lost by just a single point across the four sports.  A great achievement for Sarah – third in the world and unbeaten at tennis – very well done!

A great week for Aaron Hilsum in the Road to Wimbledon Finals 2018. Aaron played in the County Under 14 Boys Singles which started as a round robin event from which he progressed to the knockout stage of the competition.  After winning his first match in the knockout draw, Aaron then unfortunately lost in a very hard fought match 6-3, 7-6. However, this was in the last 16 which was a fantastic achievement for Aaron who represented both Westcliff Lawn and Essex admirably. Congratulations!

An excellent week’s tennis and holiday for all those who travelled to Penzance for the Open Tournament this year. Success in the finals for Cally & Tasha in the Ladies Handicap Doubles, Sarah with partner Cesar (Southampton) in the Mixed Senior Doubles, Dave with Brian (Woodford Wells) in the Mens Senior Doubles and Lucas with Charlotte (Southampton) in the Mixed Handicap Doubles. Congratulations! Commiserations but well done for reaching the finals to Sarah & Gill in the Ladies Open Doubles, Gary with Iain MacDonald in the Mens Over 55 Doubles, Lucas in the Mens Singles Qualifying Section, Aaron & Lloyd in the Mens Handicap Doubles, Gill with Bryn (Penzance) in the Ladies Over 55 Doubles, Graham with Jenny (Penzance) in the Mixed Handicap Doubles, and Iain with Tina (Berkshire) in the Mixed Senior Doubles.  Well done Steve for refereeing so efficiently and agreeing to take on the job again next year when it will be the 70th Penzance Open Tournament. If you haven’t yet been to play or spectate and want to know more, ask Steve for details.  Photos can be seen here (Facebook album – you do not need an account to view).

The 69th Penzance Open Tournament starts on Monday. Good luck to all our members playing in the tournament. There are now almost 50 members and family making the 335 mile/6 hour journey to Penzance to play or spectate! Once again, Steve is Tournament Referee. He has been hard at work for the past two days doing the draws and scheduling – all available to view here. Follow the progress of our members in the tournament on the WLTC Facebook page.  (If you do not  have a Facebook account, go to the Home page and scroll down to see a live feed showing the latest Facebook posts.)

A very good season for all our teams, especially our three ladies teams! Ladies 1 captained by Julie Milner came 4th in Div 1 (only 1 point behind 3rd place), Ladies 2 won Div 2 and Ladies 3 won Div 3.  Congratulations to all players and especially 2nd and 3rd team captains Deb Goldhawk and Andrea Spillett.  Our three Mens teams all came 2nd in their respective divisions 1, 2 & 6. Well done to all concerned and captains Neil Attwood, Rowland Swain and Andy Barker.  Our Mixed 1 team in Division 1 finished 2nd just one point/set behind David Lloyd though the team were unbeaten all season.  Mixed 2 and Mixed 4 both came 3rd in their respective divisions, whilst Mixed 3 team won Division 4 and gain promotion to Division 3 for next summer. Well done to team captain Jane Hunter and all those who played in the team this summer.

A very successful finals day was held at WLTC on Sunday 22nd July. Well done to all club members who reached finals and especially to those who won their events. Natasha and Matt Hilsum won the Married Couples Doubles, Sarah Ball with Thorpe Bay’s Lynn May won the Ladies Senior Doubles and Ryan Moffatt won the Mens Singles Plate event. Thanks to Steve who organised the tournament and refereed finals day, and also to Mark and Sandra Taylor, Bill and Marion Dixon, Wendy Thrale, Celia Barrett and Heather Garland for manning the kitchen and bar during the day, plus all the ladies who supplied homemade cakes!  The draws including results of all finals can be viewed here.

WLTC are hosting the S&D Summer Finals 2018 this Sunday 22nd July. Play starts at 10 am – see the order of play. We have a number of members competing in finals so please come and support them. Lunches will be served and the bar will be open. The finals will be played on the artificial grass so if you want to play a set or two of social tennis in the morning, this is possible on the clay.

Entries are open for the Westcliff Lawn Tennis Club Summer Open Tournament 2018 which is taking place from Sunday 5th August until Friday 10th August. Many events ranging from 8&Under Boys/Girls Singles up through all the age groups, and including Mens/Womens Singles and Doubles. Enter online here
https://www3.lta.org.uk/Competitions/Competition/…

Club members – any help you can offer during the week would be much appreciated and please pass details of the tournament to anyone who might be interested in entering.

Congratulations to club member Aaron Hilsum who won the county finals of the Road to Wimbledon 14 & under Challenge yesterday. Aaron now qualifies for the week long national finals of this competition to be held at Wimbledon in August. Wonderful opportunity for Aaron. Well done!