Captain: Jay Troth
Assistant: Alex Griffiths
Squad:
Lionel Zhang
Jack Brindley
Natan Iuras
Isaac Fox
Harvey Martin
To view the full results please click here
15 th – 16 th June:
The Warwickshire boys were placed in Playoff Group 1b in Holcombe Brook, Bury, along with Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Lancashire, East of Scotland & Cheshire, all competing for a chance to qualify for the national finals in July at Nottingham Tennis Centre. We started our qualifying weekend off with a tough tie against a strong East of Scotland team. After Isaac (4-0, 4-1) and Natan (4-0, 4-0) completed strong wins in the 4v4 and 3v3
singles matches we were 2-0 up going into the second round of singles. Jack showed a really confident display to overcome the Scottish number 2, 4-0, 4-0 taking us to a 3-0 lead, Lionel battled away hard but lost out the #9 GB ranked player 0-4, 1-4. Overall, we took a 3- 1 lead in the tie into the doubles rubbers. Jack & Natan took on their 1&2 pair while Lionel & Harvey took on their 3&4 pair. Jack & Natan had a close fought match with lots of momentum swings but unfortunately came out on the wrong side of a 2-4, 4-3(1), 7-10 result, it was a quality match with some great doubles skilled displayed from all players.
Lionel & Harvey managed to complete a strong 4-1, 4-0 win with some big serving and delicate hand skills at the net to secure a 4-2 tie win for us to start off our weekend. Following that result the boys then had a quick turnaround to play our second box match vs Cheshire. This would be an evenly contested tie with our singles rankings very similar we were in for some tight matches. Isaac & Natan went on first again, Isaac played a really high level of aggressive baseline tennis mixed with quality variation of slice to outclass his opponent 4-1, 4-1. Natan was locked in a match of plenty of momentum swings, after two sets the match was tied at 0-4, 4-0 they played out a fascinating tactical 10 point tiebreak where Natan was able to stay strong mentally and come out with a 10-8 win to give us a 2-0
lead after the 3&4 singles. It was then Lionel & Jack’s turn to take to the court, Jack had aninteresting match up vs a player with a very similar game style, his opponent started offreally strong barely missing a ball to go 1-4 0-2 up, Jack showed great character to stick inand raise his own level to turn the match around and take the win 1-4, 4-2, 10-6. Lionel was showing some excellent baseline tennis combined with fantastic reading of the game to outsmart his opponent, playing two faultless sets of tennis he came out with a 4-1, 4-1 win which gave us an unassailable 4-0 lead after singles. The doubles ties gave us a chance to experiment with some different partnerships and tactics, Lionel & Jack went in as #1 pair, while Isaac & Harvey played as #2 pair. Both pairs played some solid doubles and took
advantage of the no pressure environment looking completely relaxed on court, but after two close matches Cheshire managed to secure the two doubles ties for a respectable 4-2 win for the Bears.
That win took us into a playoff match vs Leicestershire who topped their group, even though we went in as favourites Leicestershire were coming off the back of a confident shootout win against Nottinghamshire. The boys would have to be on top of their game to get the win here. With Jack getting injured in the warmup, we shuffled our pack to put Harvey & Isaac in at 4&3 and Natan & Lionel in at 2&1. Isaac and Harvey both played some fantastic tennis in the first two singles matches, producing confident displays. Harvey overpowered his opponent with his strength of his shots and also showed smart tactical play when coming to the net, an excellent 4-1, 4-0 for Harvey. Isaac followed suit and again showed his physicality in long rallies and ability to maintain a high level of quality even when in 15, 20
shot rallies. A commanding 4-0, 4-0 win for Isaac put us 2-0 up. Natan went on at number 2 and kept up his 100% singles record, in a match with a lot of emotions he managed to maintain his head and come out on top with a 4-1, 4-2 win. Lionel had a tough task at number 1, his opponent, a confident highly ranked national player, had a bit too much for Lionel, he showed great character sticking in rallies and making things tough for his opponent, but unfortunately came up just short in a 1-4, 1-4 loss. 3-1 after the singles. Onto the doubles, and knowing that one win would secure our place at the national finals we put Natan & Lionel in at 1, and Jack came back in to partner Isaac in the 2 nd doubles pair. Natan & Lionel played some fantastic tennis and after a tough first set managed to force the 2 nd set
into a tiebreak, the result was a 0-4 3-4(4) win the for the Leicestershire first pair. 3-2. Over to Jack & Isaac, showing a lot of personality and positive body language on the court, the boys were too strong for their opponents and ran out 4-2, 4-1 winners! Qualification was secured! A fantastic weekend and a lot of momentum to take with us to Nottingham!
5 th – 7 th July:
Upon our arrival in Nottingham, we were drawn into a group with Surrey, Avon & Sussex, all of which boasted top national players all the way down their orders. The boys were in good spirits and ready to give it everything for the Bears.
Our first tie was against a strong Avon side, with 5 of their 6 players ranked inside the top 50 in the country. We went in with Isaac & Natan taking on their 3&4, it was a tough start for Isaac, the match consisted of great quality from Isaac and his opponent, baseline exchanges of the highest order and some clever net play. In a result that did not reflect the match Isaac came out on the wrong side of a 1-4, 0-4 loss. Natan played out a brilliant match with the
Avon number 3, some real aggressive baseline tennis from Natan gave him a foothold in most points, converting a lot of points from mid court balls inside the baseline. After a tight first set tiebreak, the second set was more convincing, Natan coming out with a 4-3(3), 4-1 victory. Lionel took to the court facing off against the number 6 ranked boy in the country in what was a really interesting matchup. Lionel was able to unsettle the rhythm of the match with great variation of slices, dropshots and angles, he really played some fantastic stuff, unfortunately it wasn’t enough as the match ended in a 1-4, 2-4 win for Avon. It was Jack’s turn to go on playing against the GB #16, a tough test for Jack but one he was looking forward to. The match had a lot of brilliant rallies but it looked as though the player who could be more aggressive would be the one to take the win. Jack was constantly looking to pressure his opponent by moving forward to the net and taking the ball early, after this and a lot of mental toughness, Jack managed to get the win in a close 4-2, 4-2 match. 2-2 after the singles. Moving onto the doubles, Jack & Natan went in as first pair with Harvey & Lionel making up the second pair. Both matches were filled with teamwork, high energy and a lot of
quality, but Avon managed to take the two doubles rubbers 2-4, 3-4(5) and 1-4 0-4, ending in a 4-2 loss to open our weekend.
In the afternoon, the boys refuelled and were ready to take on Sussex. Isaac & Natan started us off at 3&4 and both showed high levels of consistency and energy to over come the two Sussex players, Isaac with a 4-1, 4-0 win and Natan with a 4-1, 4-3(5) win at number 3. It was clear to see that the boys had created a team atmosphere with the other three cheering on every point and helping the boys get over the line. Jack & Lionel took on the numbers 1&2, with Jack playing a big serving player, he had to show all of his neutralising skills which he won him the first set, on the other court Lionel, playing against a boy who had recently represented GB, was locked in a great battle, a high level set ended in Lionel taking the first set on a tiebreak. Jack’s opponent started to play with less risk which paid off for him, taking the racket out of Jack’s hands even with Jack digging in and making him play every single ball, the second set went to Sussex, a championship tiebreak decided the match, in which again the Sussex boy played with high risk and managed to take it. 4-2, 1-4, 8-10 the final score. Lionel went from strength to strength on the next court, tactically outsmarting his opponent, targeting a weakness and being relentless in his attack. A comfortable 4-3(4), 4-1 win for Lionel to put us 3-1 up after singles. Harvey & Lionel went on at number 1 pair, with Jack pairing with Isaac at number 2. A tight match for Harvey & Lionel saw them lose out 3- 4(4), 1-4 but again they showed a great contrast in big serving and feel at the net to push their opponents close. Jack & Isaac put on a real display on the next court to take out their opponents in a convincing 4-2, 4-0 win, using their great baseline skills and accurate serving to not give their opponents a look in. A brilliant 4-2 win overall in the tie for the boys.
After a good night’s sleep we returned on Saturday to play our final box match vs an extremely strong Surrey team, who’s number 1 player had came back from Scotland after a grade 2 event to play the county cup finals. Harvey & Natan were our first singles players to play at 3&4. Harvey had an epic battle in his match, after dropping the first set, he adjusted his margins slightly and started to hurt his opponent with big serve +1’s and some aggressive net play, taking the 2 nd set and the match to a 3 rd set tie break. He just came up short losing out 1-4, 4-2, 8-10 in a great match. Natan was fighting it out on the next court with a similar story to his other singles, long baseline exchanges with both players constantly changing from defence to attack. His solidity prevailed and after a gruelling 2 sets both of which finished in a tiebreak Natan managed to secure the win, 4-3(5), 4-3(5) putting us 1-1 after two singles rubbers. Jack went on at number 2 playing against a very strong and similar opponent. The match was full of hard hitting, aggressive tennis where both boys gave it their all on every point, cheered on by their respective teams. Jack was striking the ball confidently and more than matching his opponent. Unfortunately his opponent was able to
play two games in each set that were the difference, finding the sidelines when he really needed too. The match finished 2-4, 2-4 to Surrey. Lionel went on against the number #3 player in GB and he played some of the best tennis I’d certainly seen from him, staying with his opponent without managing to close out many games, it’s fair to say the scoreline didn’t reflect the match as his opponent claimed a 1-4, 0-4 win, but that wasn’t without a few chances for Lionel to make the score line closer. 3-1 to Surrey after the singles. For the doubles we pout Jack & Isaac at pair 1, and Natan & Harvey at pair 2. Natan & Harvey took advantage of a mix of a slow start from their opponents and some brilliant doubles from themselves to race into a 3-0 lead. The Surrey boys fought back taking the set to a tiebreak and unfortunately for us they managed to continue their momentum to take not only the set tiebreak but also then the match 3-4(4) 2-4. It was on to Jack & Isaac who had the tough task of taking on the Surrey 1&3 players. The boys played out of their skin to match their opponents and take the 1 st set to a tiebreak, Surrey took the tie break by a solitary point at 5- 6, this didn’t dampen the boys spirits, and they continued to fight hard throughout the 2 nd set. In a close match Surrey took the win 3-4(5), 2-4 and the tie 5-1. This meant we finished a highly respectable 3 rd place in our box and went on to the 5 th & 6 th playoff match vs Yorkshire.
After an evening of the parents and myself trying to get the boys to watch Southgate’s England we were back at the centre on Sunday to take on Yorkshire. Isaac & Natan on first at 3&4 vs their northern counterparts to get us started. Isaac put in a truly typical Fox display of grit, determination and ultimately high quality, he bounced back from leading 3-1, to 3-3 and 1-5 down in the tiebreak to clinch the first set 4-3(6) and built on that momentum to take out his higher ranked opponent 4-3(6), 4-1. Natan began his match on fire, racing to a 1 set lead 4-0, his opponent fought back and took a high quality 2 nd set 2-4, onto a 3 rd set tie break. Natan managed to find his best level early on in the tiebreak, getting himself a 9-5 lead to finally take the match 4-0, 2-4, 10-6. 2-0 Warwickshire. Jack stepped onto court against the GB #6 and showed that he himself could compete at that level. Some highly aggressive tennis along with smart decision making kept him in a close 1 st set that Yorkshire just squeezed out 2-4, it was a similar story in the 2 nd set, with Jack again showing glimpses of a top ranked 11u boy that we believe he can be, his opponent just came up with the right shots at the big moments and ultimately that was the difference, 2-4, 2-4 to Yorkshire. Lionel had the task of playing the GB #1 Max Hodkinson, who recently made the semi finals of the prestigious Tarbes event in France. Again this calibre of opponent brought out the best in Lionel and despite the scoreline he had plenty of chances to get on the scoreboard, his opponent unfortunately just too strong and disciplined on the big points. He took the match 0-4, 0-4 but Lionel took great heart from staying with him and challenging him to the fullest.
2-2 after singles. For the doubles Harvey & Lionel teamed up at pair 1, Jack & Isaac at pair 2. Lionel & Harvey again stuck to their difficult task really well and showed great character and positive body language against tough opponents. The Yorkshire boys, despite an evenly contested 2 nd set, just too strong and ran out 0-4, 2-4 winners. Jack & Isaac got off to a slow start losing the 1 st set of their match 0-4, the 2 nd set however was much tighter, as the boys started to find their rhythm and use their own soft volleying skills to angle the ball around the court momentum had started to change. They found themselves into a tiebreak for the 2 nd set, the Yorkshire boys played a really solid tiebreak and took it 4-7 to win the match 0-4, 3- 4(4). Overall a 4-2 win for Yorkshire and a 6 th place finish for the Bears.
What a great few weeks for our boys, they fought their hearts out for the county, developed great friendships on and off the court and also most importantly for me, showed just what high level tennis players they all are. I can’t put into words how proud of them I am and how much of a pleasure to work with they’ve been since September 2023, that goes for all the boys in the training squad, constantly pushing each other in every session. A huge thank you to the parents as none of this would be possible without their continued support to the County Training Programme. A huge well done and thank you from me. Jay Troth, Warwickshire 11u Boys County Captain.