UK Tour FAST4 Tennis Event

The second UK Tour event took place on Sunday 19th May hosted by Douglas Lawn Tennis Club. With first matches starting at 9am it was an early start for the players.  On the day all players in the draw were required to play three FAST4 Matches. FAST4 format means that matches in the first two sets play a tiebreak to 7 points at 3-3 not 6-6.  The 3rd set, if required, is a first to 10 points Champions Tie Break.

The draw in this event was just 8 players, although a maximum of 16 can be accommodated which was the case in March event when 16 players took part.

In the first round the top two seeds easily went through to the 2nd round with Sean Drewry and Ben Myles (from the UK)  winning.  They were joined in the main draw by Neri Gricevičius and Nick Reeder. 

The second round, effectively a semi final saw Sean Drewry beat Nick Reeder 4/0, 4/0 while Ben Myles beat Neri Gricevičius also winning 4/0, 4/0 setting up a final between Sean and Ben the strongest two players in the draw and top 2 seeds.

For the players that lost their first round match Andrew Maxwell and Tristan Pretorius progressed to the their final winning their matches 4/1, 4/3[7-2] and 4/1, 4/1 respectively.

In the main draw Final Sean Drewry beat Ben Myles in a high quality match with both players hitting winners close to or on the line.  Sean winning the final 4/1, 4/2.  In the playback final Andrew Maxwell beat Tristan Pretorius 4/1, 4/3[8-6] in a close second set encounter.

The next Fast4 UK Tour event, Mens and Ladies Doubles is on the 29th and 30th June.  This will be the only doubles FAST4 of the year as the events are normally singles.

Paul Jarvis

IOM LTA ABTO Referee