16 boys between the age of 11 and 14 played on Sunday 23rd May in the first round of Road to Wimbledon.
The winner of this internal tournament goes through to the county final and then the county winners go to play the final in SW19.
Our winner was Leo LW and he met Charlie P in the final.
The full story with more pictures is on the News Page
What a lovely afternoon of girls competition.
U14 and U16, with Mor, Noa, Camille, Lily, Betty, Perry and Jenny (and Aditi not in picture)
Noa beat Jenny in the final 5/3 5/3, congratulations to them both.
Sportsmanship at its best.
I love my girls!!
Sally.
Camille, Mor, Jada, Mia and Noa all played tennis representing the Avenue Tennis Club this autumn on a beautiful sunny day and had a ball!
Theo, The farm Walk coach put on a ‘girls only’ day for girls in the area to come and play doubles and singles.
There are not enough opportunities for girls only and this was fantastic.
Not only were they blessed with glorious sunshine all afternoon, they made new friends and played lots of their favourite sport in a wonderful environment – thank you Theo!
Rumour has it, he is holding another one in November!
Can’t wait!
At the end of the first half term, Sally and Pedro award their players for their hard work during this first half term.
It’s been lots of fun and everyone has progressed so well!
Lots of work on serving after half term, so that we can start to play some matches soon!
On Sunday the Under 12s brought out the sunshine for their first match against Temple Fortune. The team, Judd, Mikey, Gabriel and Ben all played brilliantly.
Judd and Mikey lost their doubles against their number 1 and 2, but Gabriel and Ben went on to win theirs in a championship tie break 10/8.
Both matches were played with fun and lovely sportsmanship all round – it was a pleasure to watch.
Then in the singles Judd and Mikey narrowly lost their matches and Ben and Gabriel won theirs but not after Gabriel had done his usual act of retrieving everything and making the rally’s last forever – must teach that boy the art of finishing! Gabriel also took his opponent to a championship tie break winning 12/10. This meant that we had a draw on our hands.
The rules say that you then have to play 2 more championship tie breaks and if still a draw a doubles set…………………..well life’s too short, we agreed with our opponents to split the result and risk the wrath of Brenda Stewart!!
Well played to both teams – a lovely afternoon of tennis - Happy coach!!
On Sunday we started our first Aegon under 8 club match season by playing our first match of a five match league. We were playing at the Avenue and we met strong opposition in Coolhurst II.
Nevertheless our team put up a brave and determined performance and despite losing the match, if a few close games had ended in our favour we could have won it. Our team had two players from last season in Jacques and Guy. Both of them played very well indeed really pushing their opponents all the way. Jacques won two matches and beat their second seed 10-8.
Guy played really well all morning and he also won two matches. His second match was an epic tussle winning 14-12. He narrowly lost his last match 10-12 which showed his fighting spirit remained high throughout the tie.
Our two new boys did really well to compete at a top level. Leo and Danny both showed real potential and can be proud of their performance. Leo won one match in a thrilling contest going to 14-12. Danny did not win a match but could well have done losing 7-10. Well done team, a great start to the 2015 season.
We had lovely weather and everyone in the Avenue Team enjoyed themselves playing at Farm Walk and did very well.
Team players were: Filip, Thomas, Emily and Leo.
Overall score was 6-4 (12-8) to Farm Walk.
They first played doubles:
Filip and Thomas won their match, Leo and Emily lost after a well fought battle. They played very well, considering they haven't played doubles before.
Then each player had a further two singles matches:
Filip won both of his matches.
Thomas won one and lost one match, he came so close winning that too!
Emily played fantastically, several times so close to winning as well, having scores like 8 all!
Leo also played very well indeed, had some good returns and serves too.
Avenue Junior Teams get new AEGON kit
Here is Toby, one of our Under 12 players modelling the new kit.
Very smart Toby!
Now we just need some smart play!
The Under 10 Team, Chen Yu, Dylan, Judd and Jada Mae played, top of the league, tough Cumberland yesterday.
They showed great grit and determination and held their heads high.
Jada has only just moved up to the Under 10 squad, so it was a big ask of her but her light feet ran around the court in style.
Well done Jada Mae…………….welcome to the full court!
Judd and Dylan battled hard placing the ball with accuracy and skill, even Judd’s trade mark lobs sadly didn’t win him a match yesterday, though Dylan used the tactic perfectly to win a convincing game, well done Dylan.
But there was no doubt that Chen Yu was ‘man of the match’
He beat their Number 1 in a tie break and told the press (aka Mum and coach) afterwards:
"I just kept with him, waiting for him to make the mistakes and building my shots only going for the finish at the right time"
Chen Yu will be playing number one in the Under 12 team from April, so got to keep up the hard work Chen, very proud of you!
Earlier in the day Avenue player Filip was competing in the Under 9s and Caitlin in the Under 8s.
Filip has grown into a strong mature player. He won some matches and lost some, but he told his coach Sally, what he had learned from each match, a coach can ask no more than that, keep up the hard work Filip.
And last but by no mean least…….. little Caitlin.
She has just turned 7 and she has been training on Orange, but needs to play red matches to get the LTA to give her a ‘passport’ to compete on the orange court early.
So Sally suggested that she played in Herts as the standard is higher there, having 2 of the country’s best High Performance Centres at Gosling and Batchwood.
Well she ran her little socks off yesterday, was top of her box in the group stages, only dropping one set, zoomed through the quarter finals and suddenly she was in the semis.
Before we knew where we were she had run her way into the final and won it!
‘Keeping one’s coach ‘poker’ face is often hard’ says Sally ‘and yesterday was no exception, I was so proud, I had tears in my eyes as she played her winning shot’
One very happy coach – Christmas just came early!!
Young Caitlin only 6 years old did The Avenue Tennis Club proud on Sunday 5th October by winning the Under 8 competition at Coolhurst Tennis Club.
She was the only girl who had entered and she ran her little socks off to walk away with the Gold Medal.
Well done Caitlin, keep it up!!
Very proud of you!
Sally Bentley
Head Coach
Caitlin and Filip both played in an Under 8 Red LTA tournament at Elmwood Tennis Club and both won!
Caitlin won the girls tournament and Filip won the boys.
Well done guys, all the hard work that you have been putting in is paying off.
Two very deserving winners.
And an extremely happy coach.
"What a great end to a season and both players will be playing Orange in September, so they can say goodbye to Red with their heads held high. I couldn’t be more proud!'
Sally,
Head coach.
The Avenue team battled hard and played well, but lost comprehensively to a very strong Winchmore Hill side.
The singles were hard fought, with Jake coming closest to winning - losing in the championship tie break.
Dylan played valiantly against a very strong player.
Toby had the longest match.
Jenny playing for almost an hour.
The doubles went a bit quicker.
Well done team, better luck next time!
We proved to be challenging against our opposition as all matches were very close mostly reaching a third set.
Throughout this lovely sunny afternoon the players fought it out giving it all they've got however unfortunately it was an unsuccessful day for us but they played their hearts out. Overall losing a close battle, all spirits were high within the team as they all played well and worked well as a team.
Congratulating the team for excellent effort and performance, well done Ben, Camille, Josh and Yossi.
It was our final Aegon match of the summer and we needed a great performance to get 2 wins out of 4 matches.
We put in a good performance but unfortunately missed a few crucial points which decided the tie in favour of our opponents Vickers Moor B.
Our number 1 player Caitlin had a superb match winning three out of four matches. Her all court game was really firing on all cylinders.
Filip won 2 matches and pushed his other two matches into extra points having tied at nine points all. He hit accurate ground strokes and had a rocket of a serve.
Guy did not win a match but pushed his opponents all the way, displaying guts and determination. A little more strength off his ground strokes and Guy will be winning his matches.
Jacques was our fourth seed and although he did not win, he performed with great attitude and a will to win. More serving practise is required, but well done Jacques.
So well done team, here is to next year. Keep practising!
Our third Aegon match was played on Saturday May 10th at Highgate Ltc. The opposition were top of our league and therefore very strong players. Despite this, our team gave an excellent performance and most matches were won by only a few points.
Once again Filip won a match and came very close in another narrowly losing 10-12 having held three match points. Caitlin played well but had a tricky time with her serve and she also took her first opponent to 10-12. She managed to score well in her other three matches. Jacques was a late call up to the team and won one of his matches with great skill and determination. Tyler was playing again and although he did not win a match he played with spirit and effort even when losing the game.
The whole team were a credit to The Avenue because they played very well despite being beaten by a strong team. They were also very polite and well behaved even when the scoreboard was not on their side. Well done team. A great learning experience and a level of play to which to aspire.
Jake and Jenny then took over. Jake dropped the opening game but then took the remaining games. Jenny, playing 4, came up against one of the strongest, if not the strongest player in the opposition team, and put up a good performance before losing narrowly in the best of the singles matches. Some consternation was caused when the opposing parent captain said that he had checked the rulebook and the tramlines were out in green doubles. We accepted the ruling and, nevertheless, the Avenue got the double off to another good start with Judd and Chen Yu winning convincingly against the Oakleigh Park first pair.
Jake and Jenny had a closer match, but despite managing to serve for the match, go 40-0 up, but still lose that game, they came through in straight sets. The final result was 10-2 to the Avenue, an excellent result albeit against a somewhat inexperienced team. Well played to the whole team.
On Sunday, 4th May, Leo participated in the Highgate Red Tournament.
Leo was in a very tough group and there were even some orange players in it.
He played extremely well and you could see his improvement since the last tournament, thanks to Sally's coaching.
He won his first match, which was also his first ever tournament win. Alas, he lost the next 4 matches, but had a close match against one of the tournament favourites, taking him to 7 points.
Well done Leo !!
From left to right: Filip, Tyler, Matan, Guy.
This was the email that Sally received after this match, she was as pleased as punch!
Please pass on my comments to your committee and James and parents of your juniors. It was a nice refreshing change to have such well behaved children and more important well behaved parents, your team of juniors were perfectly behaved. I’ve seen so many aggressive pushy mums with wicker baskets challenging umpires and rude children who believe they will be the new NADAL.
The highlight for me was when one of your juniors, Tyler was very kind to our newest player Leonard who is only just 6 and a red 4 and playing his first ever match, which Tyler won quite comfortably. Leonard lost all four of his matches but after their match Tyler made the effort to walk over to Leonard and say 'don’t worry I lost all my matches when I was six you will get better if you keep playing'. A pleasant change.
Hopefully we will cross paths again. Kind Regards, Michael Lewis, Vickers Moor Tennis Club.
Left to right: Chen Yu, Judd, Jake, Joel.
Here is the Under 10 Team looking a little deflated though I do not know why because they beat Temple Fortune on Sunday only dropping one singles and one doubles.
The doubles went to a tie break and the 'lost' singles was very very close, so they should be looking happier; but it started to rain and Green matches go on and on and on, and I think everyone was losing the will by the end!
However this was the third win this weekend for the Avenue Juniors - the Under 8 and Under 9 team both won too, so very well done everyone - very happy coach!
Sunday April 27 2014 was our first AEGON 8u match at the Avenue LTC this season.
It was a fantastic event played in the most positive and friendly atmosphere. Our opponents from Totteridge LTC were stern opposition. However we managed to win 11 out of 16 matches and thereby win the tie.
Our first seed Filip Popovic lived up to his seeding by winning his four matches with skill and great composure.
Our number two, Guy Fawcett, won three matches and played in the match of the day narrowly losing 11- 13 to their number one seed.
Tyler Collie won two of his matches having recovered well to win them after an initial potential defeat.
Jacques Forde also won two matches which was a great effort having only been called up as reserve a few days before.
So well done team, a great experience of competitive tennis was had by all.
Left to right:
Noah
Harry
Ben
Camille
With their coach captain Ollie.
The Avenue's under 9 Orange team had a very successful afternoon against a local club, The Drive on the 26th of April.
Everyone won their matches not dropping a match through the whole afternoon. Every single player worked their hardest to play to the best of their ability which showed through the results.
Overall a very successful and enjoyable day for all players and parents!
Jenny played in her first external Green tournament at Hartswood club, in White City, recently.
She did the Avenue and her coach Sally proud with one win 4 - 0
and a very near miss at 5 - 3.
She had been leading and was on a role when rain stopped play and when she went back to complete the match, unfortunately lost 3 - 5.
Never mind Jenny - put it all down to experience!!
Well done.
Team Avenue get ready to rock at Under 8 competition in March
From left to right:
Shimon, Tyler, Caitlin, Filip,
Jacques, Guy, Matan, Leo
From left to right:
Theo (quarter finalist)
Caitlin (semi-finalist)
Jake (semi-finalist)
Guilia (runner up)
Guila (quarter finalist)
Giovanni (winner)
Sally and Caitlin
Very proud coach Sally here with Caitlin who she coached for 2 years, they have worked well as a team.
Sally is never quite sure who is doing the coaching as Caitlin was heard to say this week:
"Come on Sally you need to move your feet!"
Theo and Caitlin
Both Theo and Caitlin are only 6 and this was the first quarter final for them both.
Not sure who was more worried about the outcome, them or their Mums, who have been great friends for years and the two families holiday together regularly.
Don't they just make a lovely couple
Don't buy hats yet Mums - a long way to go!