Towards the end of the mixed tennis season it’s a race against time to complete our fixtures before the evenings draw in and it becomes too dark to play ; at the moment, despite the unseasonable wet weather, we’re on course to do just that. All our matches are being played on the all-weather courts at Braithwaite as the grass courts in Fitz Park, which were in tip-top condition earlier in the year, are just too soft now for match play.
As July drew to a close, Keswick’s second mixed team hosted their lively Whitehaven opponents at Braithwaite in their penultimate fixture of the season. Though Ian Hollinshead, captain of the second team, was on holiday at the time there is enough strength in depth in the club nowadays to compensate and his absence made little appreciable difference to the result. Captain on the night Janaki Spedding and her partner Pete Armstrong played well, seeing off their opposite numbers in both sets, then taking two further sets to put the team in a good position. John Berry and Evie Tonkin also won four of their sets and this success together with a dominating performance from Ed Ma and Anna Hollinshead sealed victory by a good margin of 14 sets to 4.
Keswick has two teams in the second division of the league and last week they faced each other and though the second team fielded their strongest pairings of the season the result was nevertheless a fairly predictable win for our first team. Dougal Atack captained the first team who were not only at full strength but on sparkling form, he was partnered by the formidable Julie Saxton who captains the ladies’ team. Rob Saxton partnered Claire Pinkney and Jonny Piercy and Anna Hollinshead were the third but by no means the least of the couples fielded by the team. Keswick’s second team consisted of Rob Moir and Sally Huit who played first couple, ably assisted by Martin Pavlu partnering Ali Lightford and Filip Jenke and Janaki Spedding. Spirited play by the second team enabled them to take four of the eighteen sets played in the match though ultimately the score, 14-4 , proved a fair reflection of the difference between the two Keswick teams.
The Men’s and Ladies’ teams have now completed all their fixtures including postponements so the league positions are finite. Both teams in their respective competitions ended the season in third place which, in a strongly competitive league, reflects credit on them and the club.