2026 Goldblatt Cup - Ladies Handicap Singles

Yesterday saw the 2026 edition of the Goldblatt Cup Ladies Handicap Singles and while it wasn't a large entry, it was still a very entertaining day of tennis with some big handicap differences on show and some superb tennis from all the players! After losing one or two players from the original entry we were left with 5 ladies fighting it out for the title. Laura Neill was back trying to defend her title that she impressively won last year and again this year she would need to give away some very large handicaps if she was going to be successful.

In 3 of her 4 group matches Laura was giving away 1 serve and banned the tambour and in 1 of them she was also barred chases worse than 3&4, so control and consistency was going to be the name of the game. It didn't start well for Laura, hitting the tambour with a beautifully struck backhand that never looked like missing in the first game, on her way to a 6/2 defeat to Ros Emrys-Roberts. This turned out to be 1 of only 2 tambours she hit all day though and with just the 1 fault coming, she negotiated the handicaps well throughout.

Laura would go on to win her remaining 3 matches, the best of which was the only match Laura had the use of 2 serves and was allowed to hit the tambour, which she did repeatedly and with great glee no doubt, against Sarah Sullivan. Sarah had had a tough start to the group but a 6/1 win in her previous match meant she was still in with a chance of making the final. Laura started really strongly with this new found freedom moving 2/0 up early, but Sarah is very experienced at both giving and receiving handicaps and 2 tight shots to start the next game suddenly made it 1/2 in the blink of an eye. Both players exchanged games to make it 3/2 to Laura before a very uncharacteristic mistake from Laura at 40/40 brought it back level at 3/3 and it looked like being a nail-biter! It was the highest standard of tennis of the day and both players seemed to be enjoying it as much as the crowd were, as they inevitably moved to 5/5 and the only deciding game of the day. Laura at this point was ruthless though and closed the game out without dropping a point to rightfully take her place in the final.

In the final Laura would meet Mandy English who was playing in the event for the first time. Mandy had started the day in extremely formidable form, brushing past the far more experienced Sarah Sullivan and Ros Emrys-Roberts by 6/2 in both matches and was retrieving shots of someone with a far lower handicap. Her backhand volley in particular was incredibly consistent, regularly defending the dedans to such effect as to win the point outright from the shot. At this stage the marker was in fear of a runaway winner of the day as Mandy was looking incredibly solid and it was hard to see who might be able to stop her. Her next match was against Laura, with the biggest difference of the day, with Laura not just with only 1 serve but also banned the tambour and banned chases worse than 3&4 and the additional restrictions that go along with it. While to those who don't know better it's assumed the person receiving that handicap must win, it's more often than not very different to that. The handicap is incredibly confusing to both players if they haven't played it before and utilising it is something that only comes with experience and on this occasion Laura was absolutely faultless with how she went about it. Beating the chases almost every time, even in longer rallies and playing with such control, with heavy cut and pace on her shots, that Mandy really couldn't get a foothold in the match, despite doing absolutely nothing wrong and retrieving some incredible shots! Laura eventually won 6/2 and Mandy was left needing at least 4 games from her last match with Peta Louise Jeffery to make the final although at the time the players didn't realise this.

It proved to be absolutely crucial though as Peta Louise did lead 5/3 and had she taken that game she would have progressed to the final by virtue of having an identical record with Mandy but having won the head to head match between them. At 5/3 though Mandy moved into a strong 40/0 lead only for Peta Louise to claw it back to 30/40, before Mandy had a little slice of luck with a ball on the penthouse dropping close enough to the back wall for Peta Louise to be unable to get enough power on it to clear the net and Mandy got that crucial 4th game to make it to the final by 1 game, despite Peta Louise completing a 6/4 win.

So a rematch of the earlier large handicap battle between Laura and Mandy was set and in the early stages it appeared Mandy had learnt from the earlier match, being a bit more aggressive with her shots and targeting the dedans to great effect, with balls either dropping in or forcing the volley error from Laura and at 2/2 it was impossible to call. From this point though Laura was relentless, making no mistakes and not giving Mandy any opportunity to put her under pressure, to close it out 6/2 for a very deserved and impressive win and retaining her title under extreme pressure!! Many thanks to all the ladies who took part in a great day of tennis and to all for contributing to a great lunch too, for a day played in a great spirit with some superb tennis when all players were still in with a chance of making the final with 2 matches still to play!