Charnwood Tennis Club's men's over-60s team began their campaign in the first division of the Leicestershire League on a blustery Monday with a home match against 2023 runners-up Oakham.
Charnwood have been bolstered by the fact that David Foster and Kevin Leck have now attained the lower age limit, and these two were joined by David Sear-Mayes and John Holberry.
For Oakham, captain Peter Farrar was paired with Martin Reason, while their second pair combined the vast experience of two real veterans, 77 year old Edmund Dry and 82 year old Ken Stewart.
Leck was still slightly hampered by a knee injury, and had never played with, or indeed met, Holberry before, but they showed signs of combining well as they engaged in a lengthy battle with Farrar and Reason.
Despite losing the first set in a tie-break, and going a break down in the second, Leck and Holberry were not deterred, and eventually took an even longer second set in another tie-break to draw the match.
Foster and Sear-Mayes cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Dry and Stewart, so Charnwood were now well in command.
In the second round, Foster and Sear-Mayes took advantage of the increasing fatigue of Farrar and Reason to win 6-2, 6-3, while Leck and Holberry were untroubled by the older pair, running out 6-0, 6-1 victors.
This was a very satisfactory start for Charnwood, and they will hope to improve in later matches as their team starts to gel.