Taylor Tie Break Tens
This event is held at the Castletown Tennis Club courts in memory the late John Taylor who was a long time member of the Club.
In its third year and this year with a junior singles event added to the usual senior singles and doubles things didn’t go quite to plan. Scheduled to be played over approximately 5 hours on the Saturday afternoon the rain came in after just over two hours play. Fortunately, the majority of players were available to complete the event on the Sunday afternoon.
The format could not be simpler with each match played as a tie break to ten. If the score reaches nine all you must win by two clear points.
The Junior Singles event proved to be a popular addition. Players were split into two groups with the top two progressing to the semi finals. Ryan Holland came through group 1 unbeaten as did Seth Hornby-Wheeler from Group 2. Also through to the semi finals were Leo Kerr and Darcey Garrett as runners-up in each group. In the semi finals Ryan then beat Darcey 10-0 and Seth beat Leo 10-3. Seth played well in the final but Ryan proved just that bit stronger and took the final 10-4.
The senior singles proved to be very competitive with the closest match being a 15-13. Again the top two progressed to the semi finals. Group 1 winner was Sean Drewry and runner-up Neri Gricivicius. Group 2 winner was Craig Blackwell and runner-up Jos Woolford. In the semi finals Sean beat Jos 10-5 and Craig staged a great comeback to win 12-10 against Neri. In a repeat of the 2022 final Sean proved to be the stronger outhitting Craig to take the final 10-5 and with it the title for the third year running.
The doubles was also played in two groups with the top two progressing to the semi finals. In group 1 Sonny and dad Simon Martin finished top with Jenny Foy and Neil Ronan runners-up. In group 2 Peter De Carte and Andrew Ronan finished top with Sarah Goldie and Ron Ronan runners-up. The semi finals saw Sonny & Simon beat Sarah & Ron 10-4 and Jenny & Neil beat Peter & Andrew 10-8. The final was won by Sonny and Simon 10-6.
After nearly five hours play spread across the two days the awards were presented by Neil Ronan as unfortunately John's wife Debbie was unable to attend on the Sunday. The runners-up in each event received medals and a prize bag. The winners received medals, silver salvers, cash prizes and a prize bag. Massive thanks to Aqua Café at the NSC for sponsoring the event for the second year running plus thanks to The Print Shed, Angell Tennis, Mantis, Isle of Man Racket Servicing and Neil Ronan Tennis Coaching for their generous prizes. Thanks go to Neil Ronan for running the tournament.