Day 1 of the 2022 Grade 3 Grantham Summer Open produced some excellent tennis, with a total of 48 matches over the day.
Starting at 9am, the 14U boys’ singles opened the competition as GTC member Sebastian Schmidt battled to shock the first seed Jaydan Mitchell. Despite his best efforts, Sebastian fell to an excellent Mitchell performance, and Mitchell advances to the 14U boys’ singles quarterfinals. Noah Rogers also competed in the 14U boys’ singles, but he was also knocked out of the competition by Arthur Drew after losing 6-3, 6-2.
GTC players Alex Harris, Ben Pitcher, Ben Rogers, and Will Cole competed in the 18U boys’ singles, starting at 10:15am. Ben Pitcher, Ben Rogers, and Will Cole all tried their best but unfortunately lost to their opponents. Pitcher and Cole later faced each other in the 18U boys’ singles consolation competition, with Cole coming out victorious in the all-GTC battle.
However, the story of day 1 was the excellent performances of Alex Harris, who fought hard to defeat the fourth seed Toby Christison 6-4, 6-3, and then progressed through to the 18U boys’ singles semi-final after Hayden Bingham retired injured. Harris overcame a first-set loss by winning the second set and battling to a third-set tiebreak before Bingham retired injured. The unseeded Harris will face first seed Theo Coats in the semi-final on Wednesday, looking to carry on his phenomenal first-day form.
Toby Park, partnered by James Beale, won their thrilling 14U boys’ doubles match 3-6, 6-1, 10-7 against Arthur Drew and Ryan Szeto. Park and Beale advance to the semi-finals of the competition.
Into the evening, the men’s singles started with the round of 32 in which Alex Harris continued his fine form with a 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 win over George Knopp, but was later beaten by third seed Ryan Scaman (6-2, 6-2). Nevertheless, an incredible day of tennis by Alex, who won three out of four games. The all-GTC tie of Dom Newcombe and Jamie Wallace ended in a Wallace win (6-2, 6-3), and both Michael Cragg and Sam Chan bowed out of the competition with losses to the sixth seed Jack Minski, and seventh seed Finnian Bult. Finally, Joe Patton returned from America with a bang, as he defeated Sam Rose 6-0, 6-1 in a confident and professional performance.
Well done to all involved!