By Herbie Powell-Gray

Yet another BUCS Wednesday on Cyncoed Campus meant another packed schedule of matches at the Tennis Centre. This week Cardiff Met Men’s and Women’s 1s boasted 5-1 victories over the University of Southampton. 

The Men’s 1s secured the 5-1 win, moving them up to third place in the BUCS Western Tier 1 table. Despite the relatively comfortable scoreline, there was some very competitive tennis on show throughout this fixture, with close matches throughout.

The Archers won both doubles matches, with Alex Hyman and Evan Kennedy winning 7-5 6-3, while Maian Minnaar and Will Dunlop recovered excellently from losing their second set to comfortably secure a 6-4 1-6 10-1 tiebreak win.

Maian Minnaar was involved in another deciding set tiebreak during his highly competitive singles match, but was on the losing side this time as Southampton got their first point on the board with a 6-4 5-7 10-2 win. Will Dunlop was unavailable for his singles match, so James Mumford stepped up in his absence to grab a 6-2 6-4 victory.

Evan Kennedy had a similarly comfortable straight sets victory over his singles opponent, before the crowd gathered around the court to watch 1’s Captain Alex Hyman defeat his opposite number 6-3 7-6 in a tense encounter.

The Women’s 1s also notched a 5-1 win, their first win of the season lifting them to 5th in the table, leapfrogging their visitors.

Josie Culliford and Disha Gaba got the first point for Met with their quickfire 6-1 6-0 win in their doubles match, before Amy Wright and Chloe Efford battled to a 6-4 2-6 10-6 victory on Court 1 to make it two wins from two for the Archers.

Gaba cruised to a 6-4 6-1 singles win, as did Culliford in her 6-3 6-2 triumph. Wright was defeated 6-2 6-0 by a quality opponent, before Efford rounded off a great afternoon for the team by easing to a 6-1 6-2 win, proving too strong for her opposing player.

The Women’s 1s are back at home next Wednesday to take on Exeter Women’s 3s, while the Men’s 1s have a week off before facing the University of Portsmouth in an away tie in the National Trophy on Wednesday 23rd November.

Keep up to date with Cardiff Met Tennis Club via social media

Instagram: @cmettennis

Twitter: @CMetTennis

TikTok: @cmettennis