National Club League success at Burnley Tennis Club
Sunday 10th April so the opening fixtures of the National club league for Burnley Tennis club, the day started with Burnley Ladies A team welcoming Bellingham Ladies A team to Burnley Tennis Club.
Burnley team consisting of Jo Heywood, Elaine Varcoe, Christine Holt and Tiffany Deaville got off to a flying start when they won all 4 of the opening singles matches to put Burnley 8-0 up with each match won worth 2 points each, playing at number 1 for Burnley was Heywood who after the early stages worked her opponent out and used her court graft to dispatch the Bellingham number 1 6-1 6-1, on the other court Varcoe playing at 2 made no mistake and was ruthless as always thrashing her opponent 6-0 6-0, Holt on court one for Burnley playing at number 3 was up against an inform Bellingham player who traded from the back off the court, holts solid groundstrokes and construction of key points so her come through a testing match 6-3 6-4, last up for Burnley was Deaville who went about business as normal and quickly took the first set 6-0, completing the match with a 6-0 6-2 win. Burnley then finished the match with two strong doubles displays to win the match 12-0, Heywood & Varcoe thrashed the first pair 6-0 6-0 with Holt & Deaville winning 6-2 7-5 to get Burnley off to the perfect start in division 1.
Burnley Men’s A team followed the ladies on court when they played host to Lostock A, Lostock who are a strong established team beat Burnley in the opening game last year so the home team wanted revenge but knew they would have a battle on their hands
Burnley fielded a strong team of Mark Rushton Woods, Marley Byrne, Henry Fizsimmonds and Lee Stretton for the division 1 match but missing influential squad players Jack Heyworth, Ethan Herron, Scott Northey and Captain Chris Rowell
Rushton Woods got the team off to the perfect start when he dispatched of the Lostock number 1 in straight sets 6-2 6-1, a close defeat for Fizsimmonds 6-4 6-4 and Stretton 7-5 6-2 put Lostock in front 4-2 but Byrne for Burnley played an outstanding match to beat the powerful Lostock player 6-2 7-5 to bring the scores level at 4-4 going into the doubles, none playing captain Rowell paired the players off to try and pull off the win against the strong Lostock doubles outfits, Lostock first pair broke early to lead in the match against Rushton Woods and Stretton but after the early stages the Burnley pair showed their class to win the match 7-6 6-4, on the other court Byrne & Fizsimmonds found themselves in all kinds of problems against Lostock going 4-1 and 5-2 down in the first set but cheered on by the home supporters they fought back game by game to stun Lostock winning the match 7-6 6-4 to guarantee Burnley won the match 8-4, a great start against a very good team
Burnley Men’s B team hosted Heaton Mersey A team in what was always going to be a tough match, Burnley evenly matched up in the singles with Stephen Greenwood playing at number 1, Chris Rowell at 2, Jez Palmer at 3 and Mick Harris at 4. Greenwood lost the opening singles on a match tiebreak after it was a set all, Greenwood lost 7-5 2-6 10-8, on the other court Rowell match went the distance after he lost the first set 7-5, Rowell took the second set 6-4 so the match was decided on a match tiebreak with his opponents having 3 match points, Rowell showed his fighting qualities to stun the Heaton Mersey player winning the match 13-11 in the tiebreak to bring the match level at 2-2, Palmer on court 1 had to do it the hard way after winning the first set 6-2 found himself losing the second set 6-4 and the match would again be decided on a match tiebreak, Palmer played a game of percentages and frustrated his opponent to win 10-4. Harris for Burnley didn’t mess around and quickly dispatched his opponent 6-2 6-2 to put Burnley 6-2 ahead going in to the doubles. Greenwood and Palmer to plan lost the first set 7-5 but came fighting back 5-7 6-4 12-10 to beat a strong pair, Rowell and Harris showed all their experience to overpower their opponents to win 6-2 6-2 and complete a 10-2 win for Burnley
Burnley C travelled to sunny Lytham to play Ansdell Fylde A team, the team captained by Danny Fleming with Nick Holt, Matthew Barlow and Joe Barlow were always going to be in for a tough match, Burnley C missing lots of key players brought in the impressive and talented junior brothers Matt and Joe Barlow. The Barlow brothers fought hard playing at number 1 and 2 for Burnley but both narrowly lost to much older and experienced players, Burnley fought back to win the second two singles with Fleming and Holt both thrashing their opponents with ease, the match went into the doubles with the Barlow brothers splitting up to even out the doubles pairings, again two close match meant the score finished 6-6 but you need to have a winner so the match went into ta shootout and it was Fleming for Burnley who showed nerves of Steele saving a match point in the shootout serving an ace on his second serve at match point down to roar back and win the match for Burnley giving them a fantastic 7-6 win in the opening game
Other results for the weekend, Burnley D beat Towneley C in the opening round of the Knockout; Burnley E beat Crosshill C 5-0 with defeats for Burnley F against Blackburn Northern E and Burnley G against a very strong Blackburn Northern B team.
Burnley Championship Finals were completed on Sunday when the Over 40s finals were played, in the men’s doubles the experienced and impressive pairing of Paul Barlow and David Whittaker showed their class in a straight sets win against Simon Goodwill and Paul Tyhurst, a match that was evenly match had some great rallies and constructed points with Barlow and Whittaker winning 6-3 6-3, the final match of the 2016 championships was the over 40s singles final, Paul Barlow in his second final was up against Ian Woolstencroft, this was always going to be a match which could have gone either way and it was the older of the over 40s who edged the encounter coming through 7-5 1-6 6-3 to lift the title
Well done to every player that represented Burnley Tennis Club this weekend
Davies Cup Legacy Coaching opportunity
Burnley Tennis Club is offering FREE tennis coaching for kids aged 5-8yrs, fresh from their training day with the LTA and British Davies Cup captain Leon Smith the Burnley Tennis Club coaches are ready to inspire kids in Burnley with two blocks of six week FREE coaching
Free tennis and rackets
for 5-8 year olds
If you’re looking for a fun activity for your kids then look no further. Tennis For Kids is a free 6-week coaching course packed full of action packed games and activities designed as the perfect introduction to tennis for kids aged 5-8.
What you can expect?
A free 6 week course with a qualified LTA coach
A free racket to keep forever if you attend regularly
An opportunity for parents to get involved
An opportunity to keep playing at the venue after the course
Book on to the course NOW at https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/tennisforkids
What your kids will learn.
Kids will learn all the essentials to allow them to have a great time playing tennis.
Throughout the 6 week course kids will learn and practice:
Throwing and catching
How to hold a racket and control the ball
All the different shots
How to develop a rally, hitting the ball over a net with new friends
Being part of a team and respecting one another
The rules of tennis and how points are won and lost
But most importantly, they will have lots of fun and meet some new friends!
Burnley Tennis Club has lots of other opportunities for both Kids and Adults to get involved in tennis just get in touch 07825 771762, email info@burnleytennisclub.co.uk or visit the clubs website https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/burnleytennisclub