U9 Girls County Cup

The players were thrilled that we were travelling to Oxstalls indoor tennis centre in Gloucestershire, a six court indoor tennis venue, with sports park facilities. Our team consisting of five players Amelia Khan, Evelyn Dorman, Grace Parr, Saachi Bhatnagar and Niloufar Gattlin. We were facing the opponents of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Surrey. 

The trip began on Saturday with an overnight stay in a hotel which the girls were really excited by. We headed out for some team bonding with players, parents, family members and captains totalling 13 of us. It had a real team feel, eating at Bills just five minutes away from the hotel.

Sunday 2nd County Cup day! After a nice team breakfast we headed to the venue arriving at 9.30am for the captain’s meeting. With players and parents arriving at 9.45am for a 15 mins warm up and a reminder of Bucks tennis values humility, teamwork, and resilience.

Our first match was against Gloucestershire. With an excellent viewing area on offer for team members and parents cheering on the girls. First out at 3 Grace Parr taking on Emily Taylor and Saachi playing at 4 against Tilly Mann. Grace really set the tone with her positive attitude and attacking tennis, moving her opponent around and dictating most of the points beating Emily 4-1. Saachi didn’t fair quite as well against Tilly losing 4-0 but what really shone through was how hard she tried and left the court with a smile on her face, which kept the team in good spirits heading into the next two singles. Amelia at 1 taking on Annie Williams and Evelyn at 2 taking on Madeleine Evans. Amelia raced into a 2 love lead against Annie with some powerful play forcing errors from her opponent. However the errors from Annie really dried up and she took the next 4 games against Amelia, her powerful consistent play proving too good. Similarly close contest at 2 with Evelyn fighting hard for the team but overall just losing out 4-2 to Madeleine.

Thus leaving us 3-1 down heading straight into the doubles. As a team we felt fairly confident we could take this to a shoot-out with the right game plan. Playing at 1 we bought in Niloufar partnering Amelia against Madeleine and Annie. This was a really close match with Nilou and Amelia showing off their volley skills but too many areas in the tie break to 7 costing Bucks losing out 7-3 in the tiebreak and 4-3 overall. Playing at two Evelyn and Grace vs Tilly and Emily. Evelyn and Grace were a really great team together with excellent upbeat energy and great communication really driving the victory here winning out 4-2. The overall tie a tight 4-2 loss to Gloucestershire. We felt as a team this one got away a little, but can’t fault the girls' effort and determination. They remained upbeat heading into the next match against Oxfordshire.        

We had Grace out again at 3 taking on Isla Abdallah. Grace was playing some confident tennis again moving her opponent around and raced into a 3-1 lead. However Isla showed some battling qualities and forced the match into a tie-break. Isla continuing to put just one more ball back into play made the difference and she took the tie-break 7-3 and Grace’s first loss of the day. We had Niloufar playing at 4 after her positive showing in the doubles up against Nancy Barrett. Niloufar was very relaxed and composed and always made her opponent play one more ball even with her opponent at times hitting a much faster ball forcing the match into another tie-break. After an epic tie-break with both players having a match point Niloufar took it 10-8 with a brilliant win. Up next at 1 Amelia up against big hitting Rio Uehara. This was a tough match up for Amelia and she found it hard to get into any rallies with her opponent hitting big serves along with taking on her return of serve. Amelia showed plenty of resilience to prolong the match but eventually losing 4-1.  Evelyn at 2 playing against another hard hitting opponent Emily Zhang another tough match up with Emily not allowing Evelyn to dictate any of the points with big serves and returns. Although Evelyn was fighting hard her opponent was just too good on this occasion taking it 4-0. Leaving us 4-0 after the singles.

Emotions were running high in the team with a few feeling a little overwhelmed so me, Ant and the parents had work to do to get the team back on track for the doubles. After a quick turnaround we were back out again for the doubles matches. Based on where the team were, we changed the pairing with Amelia and Evelyn playing at 1 against Rio Uehara and Emily Zhang. This was a match we never really got into, still feeling overwhelmed from the singles and still slightly emotional. The heads just weren’t in the game and coming out second best 4-0 but plenty of lessons to learn. Grace and Saachi out at 2 up against Isla and Nancy. This match was a tighter affair with the match in the balance at 2-2 with the girls putting plenty of balls into play. We were forced into both, back with Oxfordshire having just that bit too much power in the end taking the match 4-2 and the tie 5-1.  With a match against Surrey up next(they hadn’t lost a rubber all day) as a team we knew it would be a big challenge but with me, Ant and the parents positive attitude we had the girls ready to compete and give their all for one final push.

Niloufar up first against their 4 Aitana Berna. Niloufar had shown excellent attitude all day with nothing really fazing her and that continued here with Niloufar absorbing some powerful shots but to no avail losing this one 4-0 but the score did flatter her opponent here with Niloufar doing really well. Saachi was playing at 3 against Nina Yang, a very similar match up to above with Saachi also showing excellent attitude on court but her opponent just had too much power and was dictating most of the points. Saachi at times was using some brilliant angles and touch shots but a 4-0 loss here. Grace Parr moved up to two for the match having played some brilliant tennis all day taking on Sophia Mathew but again just that bigger serve and bigger return making the difference 4-0 to Sophia last out Amelia really being pushed all day at one but can’t fault her determination to compete up against Shanaya Mehta but she was just too good on this occasion winning 4-0 and 4-0 down after the singles. As a team we were in a much better place than after the Oxfordshire singles we were not emotional and we were ready to compete we wanted to be the first team to take a rubber of Surrey even if we didn’t win a game in the singles we thought we’d have a chance with are Bucks doubles skills. Saachi and Amelia out at one against Sophia and Shanaya at 1 the same pattern continued unfortunately with too much power from Surrey taking it 4-0. Out at 2 Evelyn after her rest from the singles was her usual happy outgoing self and really important for our team morale and Grace taking on Rani and Aitana. Some fantastic doubles from Evelyn and Grace, super hand skills at net really proving the difference and a WIN against Surrey first team to do so today taking the match 4-3(3) proud of you girls! Overall tie 5-1 to Surrey.

Overall it was a really tough day from an individual point of view as captain, the toughest I’ve had with lots of reflections during the drive home and plenty of actions to be taken for me and Ant. However as a team I feel like it’s helped us bond and come together even more and the event itself should really hold us in good stead for future county cups. These girls will really come out stronger and they’ve already communicated how hard their training after the event. I couldn’t be more proud of the girls and they are a real credit to Bucks tennis. Massive thank you to the parents who supported me and the girls brilliantly. I couldn't have asked for more. Lastly to Anthony Heald (assistant captain) his energy and warmth to the girls is great and so pleased to have him as part of the team. Next up is Lionel Cox.