The Goldblatt Cup - Ladies Handicap Singles 2018

On Saturday 16th of June Hatfield's ladies took to the court to compete for the Goldblatt Cup in the Ladies Handicap Singles 2018.

In a round robin group format Sarah and Ciara Sullivan, Jill Akers, Lis Hughes and Louise Mercier battled it out against each other in 25 minute matches or first to one 6 game set with the top two qualifying for the final.

In the group stage we had many good matches with Jill and Sarah setting the standard early in the first match finishing 4/3 to Sarah after some very long rests with Jill playing some of her best tennis to date.

A special well done to Lis Hughes who has only been playing a few months and was clearly improving every time she stepped on court putting a lot of pressure on her opponents with her retrieving and tight serves!

At the end of the group stage we had a 3 way tie on wins for top spot so the finalists were decided by games won over games lost.

This meant Louise Mercier and Ciara Sullivan made the final with Sarah Sullivan just missing out even though she had 3 wins in the group stage. This has ultimately been decided in the last match of the group stage where Ciara ruthlessly overcame her mum 6/2 with some clinical tennis!

The Final was a very tight affair; Ciara took an initial 3/1 lead retrieving many of Louise's deep cut shots and using the tambour to great effect. Louise dug in deep and managed to level it 3/3, over coming not just the tricky handicap but also recapturing the service end and dictating play with some tight serving and creatively avoiding the tambour. The Winner was finally decided after we got to 5 games all with Louise Mercier serving out the match and claim the title with a 6/5 win!

Thankyou to Sarah Sullivan who provided a tasty lunch for all involved and to all the ladies who competed in this year's event playing with great enthuasism and spirit throughout the day! we hope to see you all and many more in 2019!