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Before the final could be resolved, there were still dead rubbers to play out from the third-place play-off match between Australia and France. For both matches, Australia substituted in their reserves, while France kept their main lineup. In the second-string singles, Australia’s Rhys Williams stepped up — having also played in the doubles with Oliver Pridmore — while France played Clément Depreeuw. Both players had different visions as to how the match would play out. Williams wanted to engage Depreeuw in long, tactical battles on the backhand, but Depreeuw tried to ignore Williams and looked to attack the dedans wherever possible with off-pace drives and volleys. Depreeuw’s raw, expansive style showed up Williams’s technically correct if passive shot-making on the Paris court, where killing the ball is difficult, pulling out to a 5/2 lead in the first set. But Williams adapted to the challenge, saving set point with a railroad ace before battling back to a deciding game. In the crucial game, Williams’s precision abandoned him, putting several balls into the net and ceding the first set to France.

Depreeuw rode the wave into the second set, extending out a small lead while batting away Williams’s attempts to be more expansive in his shots. Seeing the match slip away, Williams switched back to line-and-length play. It worked, picking up a few games and starting to turn the scoreboard pressure onto Depreeuw, who started making more errors as a result. Williams won four straight games before Depreeuw blasted through the next two, leaving the score at 4-all. Over the following two games, every point ended in a Depreeuw winner or error, with Williams sitting in with consistent play to force a third set.

A confident Williams led into the third set, quickly stretching out a four-game lead. But as the finish line approached, the nervous wobbles kicked back in, losing control of the ball. Depreeuw never lost the fight, battling back to 2/4 and then again to 4/5 as Williams couldn’t seem to find the final few points he needed. Along the way, Depreeuw saved two match points at 3/5 with dead balls under the grille and again at 4/5 with winning service returns down the forehand side, with the match coming down to one deciding game. Depreeuw did the hard work from the hazard end, winning points out of Williams’s forehand corner with the help of the penthouse and, separately, the dedans. He secured the match at the first opportunity, notching up France’s first match-win of the tournament.

The remaining dead rubber in the match was between the other Australian reserve Paul Rosedale and the French first seed Jean-Baptiste Rossi. Rossi had the better start, putting his strings on every ball, both outlasting Rosedale in the longer rallies and having the better winners. Knowing that he wasn’t going to out-rally Rossi, Rosedale leant into hitting winners, but found it a difficult task on the Parisian court. Rossi went up 4/1 in the first set, before Rosedale was able to lean on his serving experience — in particular his railroads — to claw the scoreline back to evens. The set went to a deciding game, which followed the pattern of the rest of the set: Rossi had the early lead but after Rosedale found a couple of short chases he successfully held his serve to take the set.

Rosedale powered on, opening a three-game lead in the second set backed by his service-end play. His progress slowed by the fourth game, which saw a long deuce exchange eventually fall the way of the Australian. The fifth game was similar, with the play revolving around regular chases and with both players needing the serve to make progress. This time, it went to Rossi, who kept throwing himself around the court to keep the ball alive as long as possible, often ending up on his knees or front in his retrieval. Rossi pulled the scoreline all the way back to 4/5 but once again Rosedale’s railroad came to the rescue, as he sealed the match, and a 4-1 overall win for Australia.

With the third place playoff out of the way, it was time for the final destination of the Bathurst Cup to be determined. Great Britain were one win away from victory, with their best hopes lying with their first seed, Robert Shenkman in his reverse singles match against the American second seed Noah Motz. Motz took the opening game with a pair of tambour winners and a dedans, but the joy ended there for the American. Shenkman’s world-class dedans defensive skills came to the fore once again, fending off anything on target and turning everything else into an opportunity to put Motz under immediate pressure. Even from the hazard end, Shenkman was able to pick off Motz’s serve with ease as he raced through the rest of the first set, sealing it with a railroad ace.

Motz picked up the first game of the second set as well, again with a good passage of attacking play, but Shenkman was once again quick to dismiss any notions of the set being competitive. He quickly pushed ahead again, leaving Motz with no options but to continue to thrash at the ball in the hope that something would break. Shenkman was too solid, giving up one further game in the second set with Motz letting his frustration with his lack of progress show. By the third set, the match was no longer a contest, with a confident Shenkman blitzing the set, winning without dropping a game.

Both teams agreed not to contest the final reverse singles — the first such instance since the 2006 match between Australia and Great Britain in Melbourne. The 3-1 scoreline meant that America had won a rubber in a final for the first time since since Newport in 1994 — their last appearance in a final had been a whitewash to Great Britain in Manchester in 2004. It extends their Bathurst Cup drought to 53 years, with their last victory coming in 1973 in New York.

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Match results:

• Australia Men def France Men 4-1:

  • 11:30 AM (2nd singles): Rhys Williams (AUS) lost to Clément Depreeuw (FRA) 5/6 6/4 5/6

  • 1:00 PM (1st singles): Paul Rosedale (AUS) def Jean-Baptiste Rossi (FRA) 6/5 6/4

• Great Britain Men def USA Men 3-1:

  • 2:30 PM (1 vs 2 reverse singles): Robert Shenkman (GBR) def Noah Motz (USA) 6/1 6/2 6/0

  • 4:00 PM (2 vs 1 reverse singles): Benedict Yorston (GBR) vs Freddie Bristowe (USA) not contested.

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Going into the four reverse singles matches, the Great Britain team needed to win at least two of four rubbers to secure overall victory, while the Rest of the World team needed to win all four — a 3-1 result would have seen the fixture go to a deciding doubles. The Rest of the World’s best chance for a singles victory fell to their first seed, Saskia Bollerman, in her match against Great Britain’s second seed Georgie Willis. Bollerman had a dream start, trapping Willis at the hazard end and picking off Willis’s returns with ease. Willis never put Bollerman under any pressure, with the Dutchwoman easily stepping across and pressing the ball into the corners. Willis served just three points in the first four games. Once Willis was able to generate chases and spend more time at the service end, the game tightened up, sharing the games evenly, but Bollerman’s head-start was enough for her to win the set. By the second set, Willis had gotten a handle on Bollerman’s serve, with the pair playing out long volley-to-volley rallies until one made an error. Bollerman broke out a small lead, but Willis’s serving brought it back even. Willis had a chance to push ahead, but once Bollerman recovered the serve again, the Dutchwoman was able to regain the upper hand. She pressed through the last three games to reduce the overall deficit to one rubber.

Next, Britain’s first seed Tara Lumley took on the Rest of the World’s second seed, Emma Clyde. Clyde demonstrated that she was able to go toe-to-toe with Lumley in the rallies, but the Brit always seemed to be able to find a release valve —either through skill or fortune — to ease off the pressure in a way that Clyde never could. On multiple occasions Clyde was caught out by the extreme angle off the walls, hitting her legs as she tried to jump out of the way. In the end, Lumley’s steady consistency overcame Clyde’s flashes of brilliance, with the Brit never truly under pressure across the first set. Clyde stepped up in the second, battling with Lumley through eight deuces in the 1/0 game and another six in the 3/1 game, with both eventually being won by Lumley beating short chases. The Australian was constantly one stroke behind Lumley throughout the set but battled hard, extending the second set out to the hour mark before her eventual defeat. Lumley’s win secured the British team a minimum of a deciding doubles match.

Given their position in the match, Great Britain substituted in their reserve player, Alexandra Bryant, for the match against the Rest of the World’s third seed, Jo See Tan. The match was tactical, revolving around the serve and return set-pieces to set up each rally. Tan took the first two games over a nervous Bryant, but the Brit soon settled, backing her own service game. As Bryant pressed on, Tan grew increasingly frustrated in her railroad, which only resulted in her serving it quicker and hitting it harder. The loss of confidence soon boiled over into the rest of her game, giving up the next five games. Tan battled on, but her body language was a stark contrast to the confident and purposeful Bryant.

Bryant took the first set and quickly established a lead in the second. The Rest of the World team tried to spur Tan on, with Bollerman chirping in Tan’s ear through the first gallery netting at every change of ends, trying to get her to lift. She dragged back Bryant’s three-game buffer to 4-all. A series of point-perfect railroads from Bryant stopped Tan’s run, seeing the set into a deciding game. Bryant won the match attacking chase twelve, sending a cut shot down Tan’s forehand side that jagged in off the wall. In doing so, she cemented overall victory for her team, racing to the galleries to celebrate with her teammates.

The final singles was a dead rubber between Britain’s Katherine Carney and the Rest of the World’s Frederika Adam. Carney had a terrible start, with her play often unmotivated and her movement poor. Adam lapped up every easy ball she was given, knowing she could wait out the error from Carney without too much risk. Adam raced to a 5/1 lead, before Carney started to find some fight, pulling back two games before Adam could seal the set with an ace.

In the second set Adam continued to read Carney like a book, positioning herself exactly where Carney intended to hit every shot. Carney tried mixing it up, bringing a bit of heat to the equation. The pair exchanged games throughout the second set, with the Rest of the World squad screaming from the side galleries for every game and point Adam won. They battled all the way to a deciding game, with the pressure clearly showing on both players. Carney was the first to reach set point, winning it with an overhit railroad that jagged awkwardly into Adam’s body off the penthouse. Adam was clearly flustered by the loss of the second set, and it started to affect her play in the third. Carney, meanwhile, was growing in confidence in every stroke. She freed herself from the rigid box she had placed around herself and played with freedom and invention. Carney raced through the final set, finishing off an 8-4 victory for the Great Britain team.

Next followed the doubles match of the third place playoff. Australia substituted in their reserve, Rhys Williams, for Michael Williams (no relation), partnered by Oliver Pridmore. France kept the same set-up as the semi-finals, with Nicolas Victoir partnering Michel Brunoro. It was a high-intensity match from the start, with Pridmore and Williams pounding the ball at the dedans and testing out the reach of Victoir’s wingspan on the volley. Even from the service end, the Australians were on full attack, with Victoir and Brunoro having to weather the storm point after point. Williams was all too happy to take Pridmore’s lead, leaning into the aggressive shots of his own. The French defence and the Australians’ overreach kept the French in the hunt, despite the Australians leading throughout. They got as close as a point for a deciding game, but no closer.

In the second set, the French put Brunoro in on Pridmore’s serve. While the Australians got away a few grilles early, the French were able to turn the initiative, becoming the more attacking players. It put Pridmore on the defensive, which had the consequence of taking Williams out of the game and making him cold — dropping back further and further and getting jammed against the battery wall. This time, the French were able to take the Australians all the way to a deciding game. A couple of tight railroads from Pridmore, followed by persistent attacking of the tambour gave the Australians the edge, finished with a shot into the dedans after a change of ends.

The Australians put Williams back on Brunoro’s serve for the third set. For the first time in the match, they found themselves behind in the set, having to work hard to stay in touch with the French. Victoir and Brunoro went up 5/4, but three consecutive dedans from Pridmore saw the set also go to a deciding game. Brunoro then struck back-to-back dedans himself to put the French ahead again. Changing ends, a tight serve from Brunoro was key in ensuring the French would see a fourth set. The match remained tight, with the French becoming increasingly bold in their volleys at the net, with both players stepping across to intercept shots down the forehand side whenever it was their turn at the front. With no team able to break the deadlock, the French grew more excited and enthusiastic as the prospect of a fifth set loomed. They pulled out a 5/3 lead — the biggest they had held in the match. The Australians won the next game to love, with Victoir having to calm Brunoro down for fear of getting over-excited. The French got their next two chases to recover the service end, the final piece of the puzzle in forcing a fifth set.

From the start of the fifth set, Williams freed up his game, while Pridmore pulled back slightly, focusing on putting the ball in play and spraying less on to the penthouse. The change was enough to give them an edge, extending a four-game lead at the start of the set. With both Australians now contributing their fair share, the French attack was less potent. They saw off the remainder of the set, with their win securing an overall victory in the match, relegating the French to fourth place.

The last match of the day was a crucial piece of the puzzle in determining the new holders of the Bathurst Cup. With the final tied at 1-all, and with the reverse singles to follow — favouring the first seeds of each team — the doubles match-up was the best chance for either team to stake their claim. The Brits once again brought in doubles specialist Will Flynn to partner Robert Shenkman, while the Americans played Freddie Bristowe and Noah Motz again. The match started at ten o’clock, and the forcing barrage from the Americans was immediate. It bought them the first two games as the Brits immediately had to adjust to a defensive footing. But it could not be sustained. Both Brits tightened up their serves to prevent the incoming fire in the first place, before Flynn entered beast mode in his role at the net. From the hazard end, Shenkman was also keen to show that he could match the other three for pace, as the Brits went on a six-game run to take the first set.

In the first game of the second set, with a ball ballooning off the back penthouse, Bristowe shouted to his partner to “go, go, go” up to the galleries as Flynn was lining up to play his shot. Flynn pulled out, and a debate ensued between the players, the marker and the squads in the side galleries about whether a hindrance should be called. In the end, a let was agreed, but the incident led to a change in direction of the match — thereafter the Americans contained the Brits to the hazard end and got the scoreboard ticking in their favour once again. They pressed out a two-game lead but the Brits pulled it back again — again with tight serving and excellent play by Flynn at the net. The set went to a deciding game, with Shenkman serving to Bristowe. Shenkman hit the mark on enough railroads to get the weak response out of Bristowe each time, using it to win the set.

Britain were once again fully in control for the third set. Combined, their defensive skills neutralised the attack brought against them by Bristowe, neither player ever gave away an easy serve and they played into each other’s strengths from both ends. On the American side, Motz was unsure of himself when in volleying position, often leaning on Bristowe to be both attack dog and defenceman. Behind in the set, the Americans brought on one last forcing barrage. Flynn thought he had the game wrapped up on set point with a ball that teasingly came off the opening’s back wall and out to a hazard chase of the line. Despite his disappointment, and despite Bristowe saving a match point with a behind-the-back volley, the end of the match was inevitable — sealed with a Shenkman main wall dedans.

Play concludes on Saturday, with the last four matches of the event. First will be the two dead rubbers from the third-place playoff between Australia, followed by the two reverse singles matches of the final between Great Britain and the United States. Britain needs to win just one match to take the title, while the Americans need victories in both matches.

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Match results:

• GB Women def ROW Women 8-4:

  • 12:00 PM (2 vs 1 reverse singles): Georgie Willis (GBR) lost to Saskia Bollerman (ROW) 2/6 4/6

  • 1:30 PM (1 vs 2 reverse singles): Tara Lumley (GBR) def Emma Clyde (ROW) 6/1 6/3

  • 3:00 PM (4 vs 3 reverse singles): Alexandra Bryant (GBR) def Jo See Tan (ROW) 6/3 6/5

  • 4:30 PM (3 vs 4 reverse singles): Katherine Carney (GBR) def Frederika Adam (ROW) 3/6 6/5 6/1

• Australia Men def France Men 3-0 (two rubbers remaining):

  • 6:00 PM: Oliver Pridmore & Rhys Williams (AUS) def Nicolas Victoir & Michel Brunoro (FRA) 6/4 6/5 5/6 4/6 6/1

• GB Men vs USA Men (two rubbers remaining):

  • 8:00 PM: Robert Shenkman & Will Flynn (GBR) vs Freddie Bristowe & Noah Motz (USA) 6/2 6/5

Order of play for Saturday:

• 11:30 AM (2nd singles): Rhys Williams (AUS) vs Clément Depreeuw (FRA)

• 1:00 PM (1st singles): Paul Rosedale (AUS) vs Jean-Baptiste Rossi (FRA)

• 2:30 PM (1 vs 2 reverse singles): Robert Shenkman (GBR) vs Noah Motz (USA)

• 4:30 PM (2 vs 1 reverse singles): Bertie Vallat (GBR) vs Freddie Bristowe (USA)1

  

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With the tournament entering its second half, Thursday began with the first rubbers of the third-place playoff between Australia and France. First was the reverse singles match between Australia’s Michael Williams and France’s Jean-Baptiste Rossi. Progress was slow, as each player opted to drive at the back wall, generating lots of long chases and changes of ends. They took over half an hour to wrestle the scoreline to 3-all, before Williams started finding a few targets, quickly streaking ahead to take the first set. He carried it on through the second set too. As the scoreboard pressure built on Rossi, his game started to unravel, growing impatient and frustrated as Williams honed his strokes. Rossi didn’t win another game until the second game of the third set. However, Williams struggled to maintain the intensity, while Rossi kept fighting hard for every ball, rarely missing the strings. He pulled out to a 5/1 lead, at which point Williams’s second wind hit. The Australian recovered a couple of games, but Rossi had enough buffer to secure the set. The fourth set was as close as the first but it was clear that Rossi had the better legs. The Frenchman did not give up on any ball — as exemplified by a rally where he managed two return full-stretch dives — meaning Williams had to hit his targets. Fortunately for him, he hit a good run towards the end of the fourth set, pushing on to the win.

The other singles rubber was between the Australian first seed Oliver Pridmore and the French second seed Clément Depreeuw. Pridmore was keen to see the match off quickly, slotting two winning galleries for his first two points of the encounter. He didn’t let up, with around a third of the points he won during the set coming from winning openings. Depreeuw’s best counterplay came when Pridmore sprayed the ball onto the penthouse, especially above the grille, allowing him to attack the ball and try and beat Pridmore on the floor. Although Depreeuw had some early success in the second set, they reached the prearranged suspension time and walked off with the score at 3/2 to Pridmore.

The suspension allowed the women’s doubles to start on time, with Britain’s Tara Lumley and Nicola Doble playing the Rest of the World’s Saskia Bollerman & Xanthe Ranger. Bollerman sent Ranger forward to the galleries, taking on the Herculean task of attacking both Doble and Lumley from the back of the court. Despite backing herself to accomplish it, she too often found that the Brits had enough defensive might to see her off. Ranger’s railroad bought the Rest of the World pair a few early games, but the British pair quickly established control of the play. They won eight straight games, taking the first set in the process. Bollerman and Ranger managed one more game in the second set, their final tally of three being equal to their haul in the same match-up at the previous edition in Melbourne.

The last of the women’s doubles matches saw the British second seeds Georgie Willis and Jess Garside take on the Rest of the World’s first seeds, Lea Van Der Zwalmen and Frederika Adam. Van Der Zwalmen was not as clinical as she would normally expect of herself, with Willis and Garside testing out her forehand over and over again. It took Adam taking on a more active role to allow Van Der Zwalmen to ease into the play. After running them close through the first half of the set, Willis and Garside struggled to keep the ball fully under control, hitting hard on the back wall and out to many hazard chases. Van Der Zwalmen and Adam broke away at the end of the first set, their play becoming the most synchronised it had been in the competition. By the second set, they were giving Garside a serious workout in her role at the galleries. She found herself having to play her double-handed volley both on the forehand, backhand and everything in between. But she couldn’t hold back the storm, her vigil broken by the nagging consistency of Van Der Zwalmen and the round-arm volleys from Adam. Van Der Zwalmen and Adam led the second set from start to finish, keeping the Rest of the World with an outside chance of the overall victory.

The evening session was the first rubbers in the Bathurst Cup final, with the first string pairs taking to the court. Britain were represented in the final by Robert Shenkman, while America’s champion was Freddie Bristowe. Both held the amateur championship titles of their respective countries. Bristowe opened the encounter by launching an all-out attack on Shenkman’s serve, knocking him off his line immediately and sending him searching for something else to serve. Shenkman’s best option seemed to be to go down the hazard end and counter-attack Bristowe’s serve instead. Bristowe kept attacking throughout the set, with Shenkman retreating into a defensive shell. There were several long rallies with Bristowe attacking again and again while Shenkman spooned everything back, each waiting for the other to crack. Bristowe held the advantage, winning the first set by a comfortable scoreline.

Bristowe began the second set with a flurry of dedans. Shenkman wasn’t doing enough with the free balls that Bristowe did give up, often opting to safely continue the rally in the hope that his opponent would eventually miss. Bristowe, on the other hand, made sure that every free stroke that he got that the ball he sent wasn’t coming back. Bristowe stretched out a two-game lead early in the second set. But then the cracks in Bristowe’s game that Shenkman had been betting on started to appear. The errors mounted, while the disciplined Shenkman tightened up his serve and refused to give Bristowe any opportunities to attack. Shenkman won four straight games to gain what proved to be the decisive lead in the second set.

The third set saw plenty of long, tough rallies. That fact alone favoured Shenkman’s play-style, but there were enough unexpected bounces and Bristowe was talented enough to keep it interesting. Neither player established a lead in the set until Shenkman broke away to 5/3 with a ball boasted into hazard the line, letting out an audible celebration that surprised even himself. He wrapped up the set moments later with a series of high-intensity rackets-style boasted rallies.

Shenkman’s serving continued to improve through the fourth set but Bristowe refused to give in. The American always had a way of releasing the pressure with a couple of back-to-back targets. He was fighting hard for every point, while Shenkman continued to try and work him over. Again, they were locked together through the first phase of the set until Bristowe broke away to 5/3. Earning the lead freed up Bristowe, as he battered three dedans in the last game alone to secure the set and send the match into a decider.

Bristowe stole an early march in the fifth set, stepping once again into his more aggressive posture. It seemed that the tennis gods were on his side, getting more than his fair share of fortunate bounces or lucky shots, not least a force into the dedans off the second gallery ledge. Still, he broke out a two-game lead on the back of his target hitting, knocking up a half-century of winning openings by the match’s end. Shenkman had to dig deep to pull the scoreline back to 3-all, backing his method to beat Bristowe’s brashness by the end. They exchanged games again to 4-all. With the tension mounting, every shot was vital. The margins were small: a nick railroad, a lucky net cord or a marginally high force onto the penthouse seemed to swing the favour of the match every moment. The 4-all game alone saw nine deuces, each player with several chances to take the lead. Shenkman took the game with a ball hitting the back ledge of the winning gallery to beat a chase.

Bristowe then sent the match into a deciding game, defending a chase while breaking a string. Both players were now at full stretch, refusing to let any ball die. Bristowe thought he had a 30-0 lead but for the ball hitting the bottom ledge of the dedans. Shenkman struck the grille two balls later to bring up the first two match points. Bristowe saved both, the second with a grille. A long rally at deuce followed, with Bristowe again finding the grille. Now with his own match point, Bristowe nailed a tight railroad — the only thing Shenkman could do was boast it into the net — putting to bed a three-and-a-half-hour epic and securing Bristowe’s first career victory over Shenkman. Bristowe turned to his supporters in the gallery and screamed, racing over to them to share in high-fives, the win giving the Americans a key advantage in the match.

Bristowe’s win is the third time a match has been won 6/5 in the fifth set in the last three times the Bathurst Cup has visited Paris. In 2017, France’s Nicolas Victoir defeated Australia’s Pete Boyles, while in 2008, Britain’s Spike Willocks overcame Australia’s Michael Happell. Such a scoreline happens, on average, twice a year, and it marked the second occasion for Shenkman in his career — being on the losing side of a deciding game against Jamie Douglas at the 2023 MCC Gold Racquet.

With the time approaching ten o’clock, Bertie Vallat stepped on court to recover the situation for Great Britain. Looking to seal the night for the Americans was Noah Motz. Vallat got down to business early, moving quickly through the points and depriving Motz of his biggest strength — his force. Vallat’s compact style and consistent length saw him quickly establish a three-game lead which he was able to hold on to for the rest of the set.

Motz finally got his force firing at the end of the first set and into the second. Soon they were flying past Vallat’s ears, leaving the Brit searching for a serve to contain things. Pulling his railroad back, Vallat weathered the storm, happily mopping up anything loose and seemingly being the only player of the week to be able to hit regular, short chases. Once Vallat was back in the lead, Motz started thrashing at the ball again, forcing Vallat to wait through six set points before eventually winning the set.

Motz kept fighting on, taking the first two games of the third set, meaning Vallat had to go back into a rebuilding phase. Even though he recovered to 2-all, Motz stole the initiative, once again finding his range on his force. Vallat then truly fell into a slump, and Motz was all over him. The American dictated the play, with Vallat lucky to scrap for whatever he could. Motz breezed through the last four games, sending the match to a fourth set.

Vallat built a solid foundation for the fourth set, winning the first two games. Then Motz hit yet another run of golden form, triggered by three back-to-back dedans and aided by three flush back walls from missed forces. With the Americans in the galleries getting vocal, the battle was on. Motz pushed ahead, as it wasn’t always clear where Vallat’s next point was coming from. Motz extended to 5/3 up, taking the set two games later with yet another main wall dedans.

The match entered a fifth set, with the time well past midnight. Vallat found a confidence not seen since the second set, and started to muster an effective defence to Motz’s forces, even if he did have to contort into strange positions to get his strings to meet the ball. His play onto the tambour finally gave him a method for winning points, with Motz misreading the angled wall more and more. He rediscovered his length as well, pressuring Motz into both corners. By the end of the set, he finally broke Motz’s spirit, winning the set without dropping a game. At the end, he threw his head back at the heavens, relieved to have successfully accomplished his task.

Before the night could end there was still the loose end of the third place playoff match between Pridmore and Depreeuw — ten hours after it had been suspended. Depreeuw recommenced the same way he had left off: with a double fault. Pridmore saw the early hours of the morning as a chance for target practice. The Australian quickly mopped up the remaining games of the second set, but started spraying balls all over the place in the third, allowing Depreeuw to win a few games. But the result was never in doubt, with the Australians taking a 2-0 overall lead in the fixture.

Play continues on Friday. A winner of the women’s event is likely to be crowned. Britain need to win two rubbers to secure outright victory, whereas Rest of the World face the difficult challenge of needing to win three of the four reverse singles to force the match into a deciding doubles match on Saturday — though they could win it outright by winning all four matches. In the men’s competition, the doubles match will likely prove decisive for the direction of the trophy, as Saturday will see the two reverse singles matches, where the first seeds are favoured to win for their respective teams.

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Match results:

• 3rd place playoff: Australia Men lead France Men 2-0 (three rubbers remaining)

  • 11:00 AM (2 vs 1 reverse singles): Michael Williams (AUS) def Jean-Baptiste Rossi (FRA) 6/3 6/0 3/6 6/3

  • 1:00 PM (1 vs 2 reverse singles): Oliver Pridmore (AUS) def Clément Depreeuw (FRA) 6/1 6/2 6/3

• GB Women lead ROW Women 5-3 (four rubbers remaining)

  • 3:00 PM (1 vs 2 reverse doubles): Tara Lumley & Nicola Doble (GBR) def Saskia Bollerman & Xanthe Ranger (ROW) 6/2 6/1

  • 4:30 PM (2 vs 1 reverse doubles): Georgie Willis & Jess Garside (GBR) lost to Lea Van Der Zwalmen & Frederika Adam (ROW) 3/6 2/6

• Final: GB Men level with USA Men 1-1 (three rubbers remaining)

  • 6:00 PM (1st singles): Robert Shenkman (GBR) lost to Freddie Bristowe (USA) 3/6 6/4 6/3 3/6 5/6

  • 8:00 PM (2nd singles): Bertie Vallat (GBR) def Noah Motz (USA) 6/2 6/3 2/6 4/6 6/0

Order of play for Friday (all times CEST):

• GB Women vs ROW Women:

  • 12:00 PM (2 vs 1 reverse singles): Georgie Willis (GBR) vs Saskia Bollerman (ROW)

  • 1:30 PM (1 vs 2 reverse singles): Tara Lumley (GBR) vs Emma Clyde (ROW)

  • 3:00 PM (4 vs 3 reverse singles): Jess Garside (GBR) vs Jo See Tan (ROW)1

  • 4:30 PM (3 vs 4 reverse singles): Katherine Carney (GBR) vs Frederika Adam (ROW)2

• Australia Men vs France Men:

  • 6:00 PM: Oliver Pridmore & Rhys Williams (AUS) vs Nicolas Victoir & Michel Brunoro (FRA)

• GB Men vs USA Men:

  • 8:00 PM: Robert Shenkman & Will Flynn (GBR) vs Freddie Bristowe & Noah Motz (USA)

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With the USA already holding an unassailable 3-0 lead over France in their semi-final, the two reverse singles matches were dead rubbers. As a result, following Bathurst Cup rules, the format was reduced to a best-of-3 set match. Noah Motz was a fairly relaxed figure in his match against Jean-Baptiste Rossi, leaning into his exhibitionist streak with behind-the-back or between-the-legs as he channeled his inner Edmond Barre. However, Rossi was out to play, scampering all over the court and covering everything that Motz could throw at him with his round-arm, ambidextrous style. Motz stalled, while Rossi strung together three straight games. Across the passage of play, the bouncy Paris court saw each winning opening struck from a ball off the floor. Rossi won the first set as Motz never really found his groove. It took Motz firing three back-to-back grilles at 1/2 down in the second set for him to rediscover his form. From there, he didn’t lose another game in the set, finishing with back-to-back main wall dedans. The third set was a tough battle, with the Parisian heat rising, both players were keen to finish things quickly. They fought to 3-all, but Motz stepped forward to finish off the match, securing the last three games and another victory for the USA.

The last rubber of the fixture saw America’s Freddie Bristowe play France’s Clément Depreeuw. Bristowe was in full control of Depreeuw’s serve, pressuring the Frenchman from the very first stroke of the reste. From the service end, his main weakness was hitting too many hazard chases, both in general play and directly off the serve, as his enthusiasm for boasting and slamming the ball around got the better of him. It mattered little, as he was in control regardless of the side of the court he was on. The closest Depreeuw came to winning a game was at 40-0 up in the 0/5 game of the second set, playing a first gallery chase, he hit the back wall of the last gallery only for the ball to bounce out to chase the line.

The women’s match resumed with the first of two days of doubles play. In the second string doubles, British Open finalists Georgie Willis and Jess Garside teamed up to play the Rest of the World’s Saskia Bollerman and Xanthe Ranger. Bollerman took command of the match early, not letting Garside or Willis make any progress at the service end. She was aided by some punishing cut-volleys from Ranger, beating the Brits into the corner. The Brits’ cause wasn’t helped when Garside wore a ball to her hand. Willis needed to step up to save situation and she did, rallying out with Bollerman up and down the main wall. But by that point, Bollerman and Ranger had already built a 4/0 lead, which proved too strong for the Brits to chase down.

By the second set, the Brits had fully wrestled the initiative. As Garside’s volley came good, she and Willis were able to push on to a three-game lead. But the run couldn’t last, with Willis’s backhand starting to struggle. Bollerman was excellent at picking volleys out of the air, with Garside and Willis unable to challenge her up against any of the walls. They pulled the score back to level. In the back end of the set, Bollerman was winning her service games against Willis, but Garside was winning hers against Ranger. It went to a deciding game, playing chase the line, when a ball trickled over the net. Bollerman ran forward to cover it, but left Ranger exposed at the back of the court for Willis to pick off. That shot proved the difference, with the Brits winning the set moments later, with Willis letting out an almighty scream.

Britain carried on into the third set, again establishing a three-game lead. But Bollerman again had to step up to recover the situation for the Rest of the World — knowing that a loss would put overall victory almost out of reach. A tight battle for the 3/1 game saw the Rest of the World back into contention for the match. The service end was the only way for either team to make progress — especially as winning openings were few and far between — making each of the regular hazard chases ever more excruciating for the players. The teams were in a deadlock, with multiple deuces featuring in every game from 3-all to 5/4 to the Rest of the World. A confident leave call proved fatal for Britain, with Bollerman beating a chase 8 on the floor to bring up match point. They only needed one opportunity, sealing the match and the first point for the Rest of the World. All players walked off court exhausted, with the match taking two and a half hours to complete.

The first-string doubles followed, with a cameo appearance for the Rest of the World by Lea Van Der Zwalmen, who missed the singles matches. She partnered with Frederika Adam, while Britain subbed in Nicola Doble in place of Katherine Carney to partner Tara Lumley. For Britain, the objective was clear: hit the ball at or through Adam to keep the play away from Van Der Zwalmen. Through the early stages of the match, the Rest of the World pair didn’t get the balance right, with Adam dropping back too far and neutering Van Der Zwalmen’s greatest strength — her world-class backhand. Van Der Zwalmen had to assert herself in order to pick up more of the play. Yet Lumley was getting the better of the Van Der Zwalmen service games, with the pairs exchanging games through the back half of the set until they reached a deciding game. The game hinged on Adam’s volley. She got two clean ones away to earn set points, but framed it on each of the first three set points. Finally, one went over, which Doble put into second gallery, which Van Der Zwalmen could beat on the floor to claim the set.

Lumley and Doble lifted for the second set. Together, they were out-rallying Van Der Zwalmen and often out-serving her as well. The Frenchwoman could not control the play like she had through the first set. As a result, Adam become more exposed as well. Doble was getting plenty of weight out of her volleys while Lumley looked at home at the back of the court. Britain led the set throughout, evening the match at 1-all.

The third set was a slow grind. Changes of ends were frequent, with the teammates running errands up and down the side galleries to top up water bottles and fetch sustenence. Van Der Zwalmen and Lumley were locked in an engrossing battle over who could better control the service end. But once again, the match hinged on Adam’s volley, which snuck the Rest of the World team a slight advantage in the set. Finding the final point was tough work, with Lumley and Doble fighting to the end. Adam found enough good volleys coupled with Van Der Zwalmen’s powerful backhand to take the match after a gruelling two hours, keeping the Rest of the World alive in the fixture.

It was well past eight o’clock that Robert Shenkman and Oliver Pridmore took to the court for the Great Britain vs Australia singles matches. Britain led the fixture 2-1, needing to win one of two matches to ensure progression, while Australia needed to win both rubbers. Pridmore unleashed on Shenkman’s serve, aiming to bust the ball out of its stitches. He outright refused to get into the positional rallies Shenkman prefers, instead ripping winners and daring Shenkman to retrieve them. Shenkman had to hold himself back to avoid getting pulled into the aggressive play. Pridmore’s plan hinged on the bet that he would hit the winners more often than he would give up a loose ball. At first, it worked, building out a lead in the set. But Shenkman dug in, refusing to give up on any ball, and battled back to 5-all. The final game was a battle of long chases, with Pridmore framing a ball off the neck of the racket and lobbing into the dedans to secure the set.

Pridmore was still dictating the terms of the engagement into the second set even if he wasn’t in full control of the proceedings. His shots weren’t as menacing, allowing Shenkman to pick off targets and apply some pressure the other way. After taking an age to reach 1-all, Pridmore’s dam burst and Shenkman came flooding through. He took the last 5 games of the set in quick fashion, leaving Pridmore with plenty of questions to answer. As the third set rolled around, it was now Shenkman who was in command of the play, putting the ball in difficult areas that Pridmore kept trying to blast his way out with little success. It didn’t work out well; he did not picking up another game until 0/2 down in the fourth set. There wouldn’t be another, as Shenkman secured the fixture victory for his team, sending them into the final to face the USA.

With the match result beyond doubt, both teams substituted in their reserves for the second string singles. Off the bench for Great Britain was Benedict Yorston, replacing Bertie Vallat, while for Australia, Paul Rosedale stepped in for Michael Williams. A small contingent of supporters for each country stayed to watch, with the match starting around eleven o’clock in the evening. Rosedale found it difficult to control the ball on the bouncy Paris court, meaning Yorston faced no difficulty in chasing everything down to spoon back over the net. Rosedale had little go his way through the first set — apart from saving set point with a tambour winning gallery — as Yorston raced ahead. However, by the second set, Yorston grew ill-disciplined, ceding straight three games to Rosedale, who put together a good string of targets. Yorston quickly recovered by refusing to accept the physical reality that it was possible for a ball to strike the ground twice. Unless he hit an opening, Rosedale couldn’t find a way to end the rally in his favour. Such was Yorston’s keenness to win that he sprinted around the last change of ends. He won the last six games of the match to put the icing on the cake of Great Britain’s victory.

Play continues on Thursday. Great Britain will play the United States in the first two singles rubbers of the final, while Australia will play France in the third-place playoff match. In the women’s event, the doubles matches continue, with the reverse doubles pairs.

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Match results:

• USA Men def France Men 5-0

  • 11:00 AM (2 vs 1 reverse singles): Noah Motz (USA) def Jean-Baptiste Rossi (FRA) 4/6 6/2 6/3

  • 1:00 PM (1 vs 2 reverse singles): Freddie Bristowe (USA) def Clément Depreeuw (FRA) 6/0 6/0

• GB Women lead ROW Women 4-2 (six rubbers remaining)

  • 3:00 PM (2nd doubles): Georgie Willis & Jess Garside (GBR) lost to Saskia Bollerman & Xanthe Ranger (ROW) 3/6 6/5 4/6

  • 4:30 PM (1st doubles): Tara Lumley & Nicola Doble (GBR) lost to Lea Van Der Zwalmen & Frederika Adam (ROW) 5/6 6/2 3/6

• GB Men def Australian Men 4-1

  • 6:00 PM (1st singles): Robert Shenkman (GBR) def Oliver Pridmore (AUS) 5/6 6/1 6/0 6/1

  • 8:00 PM (2nd singles): Benedict Yorston (GBR) def Paul Rosedale (AUS) 6/2 6/3

Order of play for Thursday (all times CEST):

• 11:00 AM (2 vs 1 reverse singles): Michael Williams (AUS) vs Jean-Baptiste Rossi (FRA)

• 1:00 PM (1 vs 2 reverse singles): Oliver Pridmore (AUS) vs Clément Depreeuw (FRA)

• 3:00 PM (1 vs 2 reverse doubles): Tara Lumley & Nicola Doble (GBR) vs Saskia Bollerman & Xanthe Ranger (ROW)

• 4:30 PM (2 vs 1 reverse doubles): Jess Garside & Georgie Willis (GBR) vs Lea Van Der Zwalmen & Frederika Adam (ROW)

• 6:00 PM (1st singles): Robert Shenkman (GBR) vs Freddie Bristowe (USA)

• 8:00 PM (2nd singles): Bertie Vallat (GBR) vs Noah Motz (USA)

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The women’s Bathurst kicked off with a team representing Great Britain playing a Rest of the World team. The first match was the second singles contest between Britain’s Georgie Willis and Australia’s Emma Clyde — playing for the Rest of the World. The start was slightly delayed as the teams debated who was permitted to provide coaching advice to the players. The court brought an extra complication to proceedings — the high windows brought in bright sunlight and glare across the middle of the court. Clyde took the initiative early, backing her tight serving to force Willis into giving away a loose ball, enabling Clyde to pick off a good volley. However, for every ball that Clyde hit out of the centre of the strings for a clean winner, there was another that ended up in the net or on the penthouse that enabled Willis to find a winner instead. The Brit played herself into the match, patiently waiting for the mistake to come and backing her execution of the shot. As Willis established the lead in the set, Clyde’s shotmaking become more erratic, compounding the problems for the Australian. Willis secured the set for Britain, but needed five attempts at set point to do so.

The pattern largely continued through the second set. Even though Willis couldn’t pin down Clyde with her serving, Willis backed herself to retrieve Clyde’s first aggressive stroke. Clyde was often too impatient, trying to force an outcome on the next stroke or two, giving away an unforced error or an easy ball to Willis. Willis dug in, slowly establishing her lead in the set. As the match slipped away Clyde tried a few “Hail Mary” shots, which, when coupled with good execution and a bit of fortune, helped bring her back into contention for the match. The match came down to a tense 5/4 deuce game. Nerves skyrocketed, including Clyde chasing a ball towards the net on a hazard chase she could have left but for her uncertainty about French chase names. Willis won the match with a lob that settled on the grille ledge for a moment before falling into the backboard.

Next on was the battle of the first seeds: Britain’s Tara Lumley and the Rest of the World’s Saskia Bollerman. It was a closely matched affair, with Lumley holding the better head-to-head record but it was Bollerman, who was the victor in their most recent encounter at the US Open in March. Lumley had the better start, extending a two-game lead. However, Bollerman’s defensive play came to the fore and nullified Lumley’s play, as Bollerman and outlasted Lumley in the backhand exchanges. Bollerman took the last five games of the first set, as Lumley was left searching for a way through.

Lumley tightened up her serve for the second set, putting Bollerman immediately on the back foot. Her drags were effective in restricting Bollerman’s ability to control the play. Bollerman tried to counteract with a railroad, but she wasn’t able to get it tight enough which let Lumley have the advantage from both ends. Lumley won a key deuce game at 3/1, characterised by several tight chase calls. Her lead stretched out to 5/1 before Bollerman mounted a brief comeback. She had two points to bring the scoreline back to 5/4, but again, Lumley’s serving dismissed any thought that Bollerman had of making the set tight. Lumley sent the match into a deciding set instead.

Bollerman improved for the third set, with her strokeplay becoming more incisive, especially from the service end. Play was paused briefly at 2-all to clean up a scattering of debris that had fallen from the ceiling. After the next change of ends, Lumley had her best run of serves of the match, not giving a point away for a couple of games before Bollerman could next find a chase. The stint proved decisive, with Lumley taking the match and a 2-0 lead for Team GB.

The men’s Bathrust resumed with the doubles rubber in the semi-final between the USA and France. The USA, with their team of just two players, were forced to pick Noah Motz and Freddie Bristowe, while the French team substituted both of their singles players out for Nicolas Victoir and Michel Brunoro. At the start of the match, the Americans lacked coordination, often going for the same ball as each other or not moving well to cover their partner’s weaknesses. The French, meanwhile, were solid in their attacking play, constantly forcing for the dedans or sending Brunoro forward to dance around the door line. The French duo pulled out a 3-0 lead before the Americans started to find a groove. Once they got going, there was little the French could do in response. They held full control of the play, blasting the ball around while Victoir and Brunoro desparately tried to hold on. A few bursts of counterpunching saw them nab a couple of games, but American victory was largely assured at the end of the second set, leaving the players to go through the motions for the next hour. The win secures an unassailable 3-0 lead for the Americans, sealing their qualification into the Bathurst Cup final with the two reverse singles rubbers to play on Wednesday.

Back to the women’s event, and it was the turn of the third seeds for each respective team. For Britain, it was Katherine Carney, while the Rest of the World was represented by Australia’s Jo See Tan. The match was characterised by the service battle — Carney was able to use the steep Parisian penthouse to generate uncertainty over the width of her serve, leaving the left-handed Tan to hold back and stretch to reach the return of serve. Meanwhile, Tan’s go-to railroad wasn’t causing many problems for Carney, popping up off the back wall and letting Carney lean into a force. It took Tan serving wider and shorter for her to eat into Carney’s early lead, eventually evening the set at 4-all. Carney pushed ahead with a solid stint at the service end, and by the time Tan had recovered the serve, Carney was too close to the finish line. A couple of untimely unforced errors from Tan gave Carney the break she needed to seal the set. In the second set, Carney throttled any scoring opportunities that Tan had, with patient, persistent play proving the Australian’s undoing. By the end, Tan had run out of ideas, with a confident Carney winning the second set without dropping a game. Her win took Britain to an unenviable 3-0 lead in the fixture.

The last of the regular singles matches for the women’s trophy was between Britain’s Jess Garside and the Rest of the World’s Frederika Adam. Garside was in control of the match from the start, with her serving restricting Adam’s round-arm volley, backed up by consistent play on and around the tambour, often catching Adam out of position. However, the heat was taking its toll on Garside, removing the sting of her best shots and letting Adam play into the match. Adam found it easy to lay plenty of chases as a result, with Garside not covering the court as she may have done in cooler weather. Garside battled through the first set, but found a second wind for the second, winning the first two games before conceding the service end. The fight then fell out of Adam’s play, with Garside pushing on to victory, bageling the second set.

The final match of the day was the doubles rubber of the Australia vs Great Britain men’s semi-final. With the fixture tied at 1-all, Great Britain subbed out Bertie Vallat from the singles for doubles specialist Will Flynn — partnering Robert Shenkman. Meanwhile, Australia kept the same players as the singles rubbers — Oliver Pridmore and Michael Williams — especially given the pair recently secured the Victorian Open doubles together. Williams elected to receive Shenkman’s serve for the first set. Shenkman was the only player on court with any sense of self-control or moderation, the other three launched themselves at the ball at every opportunity. At first Flynn was overexcited and Shenkman got suckered into the ping-pong play, letting the Australians out to an early lead. But they soon found their composure, bringing the first set scoreline back to 4-all. However, a spell of effective and piercing power hitting from the Australians was enough for them to win the last two games and the first set.

The second set was tight throughout, with neither pair gaining much of an advantage. Shenkman kept serving to Williams, pushing Flynn up to attack at the net. There were plenty of long chases being set, as each pair would drive at the bakc wall — above or below the penthouse — as their only real way of ending a reste. It was Flynn who eventually broke the deadlock, with a booming series of return of serve volleys that beat through Pridmore’s defense to break to a two-game lead at 5/3. Then, from the service end, it was Flynn’s fast feet and quick hands that carried the Brits over the line to even the match at 1-all.

Shenkman lined up against Pridmore’s serve for the third set. Flynn and Shenkman were successful in dragging Pridmore into an ego contest playing shots up and down the main wall. Pridmore over-extended, often trying to do too much to beat both his opponents at once as Britain pulled out a two-game lead. Still, Pridmore was determined to generate counterplay, even if it meant icing out Shenkman and Williams and focusing his attack on Flynn. Pridmore carried the scoreline back to 4-all again. But yet again, it was Flynn who stepped forward, belting in some accurate return of serve forces at the key moments to put Britain ahead, winning the third set.

Pridmore stayed on Shenkman’s serve for the fourth set. Early in the set, Flynn took a ball in the face while trying to defend the winning gallery. Despite his insistence on playing on, the shock ruined his hot streak as the Australians piled on a lead. The Brits didn’t win another game in the set, while the Australians pulled back a little, making sure they executed their finishes well. The Brits put Flynn on Pridmore’s serve for the final set. Shenkman then took a leadership role, corralling Flynn back into form, constantly giving Flynn reinforcing feedback, while playing the anchor role himself to perfection. The Australians fell away, barely winning a point in the back half of the set. The rally of the match was preserved for the first match point, with Pridmore barely holding on, Flynn at full stretch to find the finish and Shenkman ending up on the floor. Even though the Australians saved the game from 0-40 down, the Brit’s 5/0 lead was enough to see them over the line. Their victory put them one rubber away from the final, with the Australians needing to win both of the singles fixtures on Wednesday in order to progress.

Play continues on Wednesday with the remaining matches in the men’s semi-finals, as well as the reverse doubles of the womens’ Bathurst Cup. The USA and France will play out two dead-rubbers in their reverse singles, while Great Britain will have two shots at beating Australia in their regular singles. The Great Britain women’s team can secure a minimum of a deciding doubles match should they win their two reverse doubles fixtures.

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Match results:

• GB Women lead ROW Women 4-0 (eight rubbers remaining)

  • 11:00 AM: Georgie Willis (GBR) def Emma Clyde (ROW) 6/3 6/4

  • 12:30 PM: Tara Lumley (GBR) def Saskia Bollerman (ROW) 3/6 6/3 6/3

  • 4:00 PM: Katherine Carney (GBR) def Jo See Tan (ROW) 6/4 6/0

  • 5:30 PM: Jess Garside (GBR) def Frederika Adam (ROW) 6/3 6/0

• USA Men def FRA Men 3-0 (two rubbers remaining)

  • 2:00 PM: Freddie Bristowe & Noah Motz (USA) def Nicolas Victoir & Michel Brunoro (FRA) 6/4 6/2 6/1

• GB Men lead AUS Men 2-1 (two rubbers remaining)

  • 7:00 PM: Robert Shenkman & Will Flynn (GBR) def Oliver Pridmore & Michael Williams (AUS) 4/6 6/3 6/4 0/6 6/1

Order of play for Wednesday (all times CEST):

• 11:00 AM (2 vs 1 reverse singles): Noah Motz (USA) vs Jean-Baptiste Rossi (FRA)

• 1:00 PM (1 vs 2 reverse singles): Freddie Bristowe (USA) vs Clément Depreeuw (FRA)

• 3:00 PM (2 vs 1 reverse doubles): Georgie Willis & Jess Garside (GBR) vs Lea Van Der Zwalmen & Frederika Adam (ROW)

• 4:30 PM (1 vs 2 reverse doubles): Tara Lumley & Nicola Doble (GBR) vs Saskia Bollerman & Xanthe Ranger (ROW)

• 6:00 PM (1st singles): Robert Shenkman (GBR) vs Oliver Pridmore (AUS)

• 8:00 PM (2nd singles): Bertie Vallat (GBR) vs Michael Williams (AUS)

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The tournament began with the hosts, France, playing the second seeds, the USA. The first match was between the first-string players, with the French Raquette d’Or champion Jean-Baptiste Rossi taking on the American Amateur Champion Freddie Bristowe. It was to be Rossi’s first outing on the international stage, meaning Bristowe had to quickly find a way to adapt to Rossi’s unconventional style, playing forehands on both sides of his body with a round-arm technique. Serving with both hands as well, Rossi posed a threat with every ball on the bouncy Parisian court. Bristowe concentrated on playing traditional real tennis strokes, reining in his aggressive rackets instinct. In particular, his railroad was a great asset, getting the ball to bite and spin aggressively, pulling Rossi out of position. Bristowe raced to a five-game lead in the first set, before stalling out in the Parisian heat. Rossi was able to fight back for three games, battling for every ball and hitting his targets well, while Bristowe was perhaps too conservative.

Bristowe reestablished control by the second set, stepping up his target hitting from both ends of the court. He also realised that Rossi’s style didn’t permit him to hit many outright winners, allowing Bristowe to rally it out before receiving a free ball he could hit at a target. As the second and third sets wore on, the match increasingly became a procession for Bristowe.

The second-string singles match saw Noah Motz — playing outside America for the first time since the 2019 Clothier Cup — take on France’s Clément Depreeuw. Motz’s approach to the unfamiliar court was to not bother with figuring out how the bounce and balls worked, instead launching everything he could at the dedans. For the most part, it worked from the hazard end, but whenever he was at the service end he was forced into playing more conventional restes. Depreeuw knew he needed to dig in and wait for the inevitable loose balls, occasionally putting his racket between the ball and the dedans in whatever way he could. Motz held a two-game lead through the first set, but his wild shots let him down against the ever-consistent Depreeuw. Depreeuw took the last four games to take the first set, leaving Motz to question his decision-making while receiving a verbal beating from his coach from the winning gallery.

Motz, still struggling to read the court, decided to let his natural talent do the talking for the second set. He backed himself to get out of difficult situations or court misreads with his quick hands and fast feet. For Depreeuw, consistency was no longer enough, and his lack of powerful offensive weapons did him a disservice against a still-loose Motz. Motz powered on, breaking away midway through the set and pushing on until he had levelled up the match.

By the third set, Motz’s straight forcing had become a notable highlight, even if it did get closer and closer to tagging Depreeuw. But he also was now able to add enough variety to his play to wrestle full control of the proceedings. He wrapped up the third easily with a long run of games, but by the fourth, things started to slow down again. The heat and the French-language marking didn’t do favours for Motz, leaving him often disorientated or lackadaisical. He let Depreeuw fight the fourth set deep, pounding balls down the centre in the hope that Depreeuw would miss. Depreeuw saved two match points in the 3/5 game and another three in the 4/5 game, before finally Motz hit the dedans one last time to secure an American victory.

The second semi-final was between Team Australia and Team Great Britain. Unlike the first fixture, the matches played were the reverse singles — the second seed for each team playing the first seed of the other team. The fact that the two protagonists, Australia’s Oliver Pridmore and Britain’s Bertie Vallat, were separated by half a handicap point presented Britain with an excellent opportunity to stamp their authority on the fixture from the first rubber. Pridmore was determined not to let that happen, teeing off from the start and blasting the ball all over the court. He didn’t mind if he sprayed a few, as he backed himself to be quick enough to cover any attempted winner Vallat played from a loose ball. Importantly, Pridmore suckered Vallat into playing hyper-aggressively as well, a departure from his natural style. Vallat was blown off court in the first set, which Pridmore easily secured, dropping just one game.

Vallat changed tack for the second set. He concentrated on his set pieces — serves and returns — and tried to pull Pridmore into backhand-to-backhand rallies. It was effective in neutralising the biggest of Pridmore’s extravagant shots. Vallat’s calm and patient play saw him lead the set from start to finish, even chucking in a few good, positive forces at the dedans for good measure.

The first four games of the third set were tight deuce games, with Pridmore grabbing a narrow advantage as a result. He moderated his strokeplay without becoming too passive. Vallat tried to rein in Pridmore’s excesses by pulling him into the tempered restes that had been the theme of the second set. But Pridmore wasn’t interested, backing himself to hit enough outright winners to stay ahead of the play. He successfully found the grille on a regular basis, putting him a set in the lead once more.

The match turned again for the fourth set, with Pridmore’s attacking game going through the motions rather than having any serious intent. Meanwhile, Vallat’s game was purposeful, pressing out to a three game lead. Pridmore clawed back all three with some excellent return of serve volley drives at the dedans, hitting both sides of the back netting. From the service end, his attacking of the tambour was incessant, eventually drawing the error from Vallat no matter how good the Brit was on the volley. Pridmore won the last five games to draw first blood in the fixture for Australia.

The final match of the evening saw Britain’s first seed Robert Shenkman play Australia’s second seed Michael Williams. Williams wasn’t interested in playing Shenkman’s tactical and positional rallies, instead blasting the ball at the dedans at every opportunity he got. Even with Shenkman’s usually strong defensive volley holding, Williams was able to generate enough pace such that Shenkman couldn’t get near it. It was a potent enough weapon that Shenkman had to restrict his ball placement, avoiding attacking shots of his own. Williams kept Shenkman in check all the way through the set, reaching a 5-all deciding game for the first time in the tournament. Shenkman opened the deciding game with two last gallery chases, winning both but conceding the service end again to a pair of Williams back wall drives. Shenkman beat one with a gallery, then secured the set moments later with a main wall dedans, screaming a big roar at the tambour in celebration.

The regularity and potency of the Williams attack continued to trouble Shenkman through the second set, making him retreat into the defensive game he had worked so hard to break free from in the last few seasons. Yet slowly, Shenkman wore Williams down. It wasn’t backed by extravagant strokeplay or counter-attacking flair, instead, Shenkman showed discipline and purpose. By the end of the set, Williams was unravelling, playing shots by desparation, not calculation. Williams didn’t have anything left in the tank for the third set, with Shenkman cruising to victory and evening up the fixture with three rubbers still to play.

Play continues on Tuesday with the doubles fixtures of each of the semi-finals, alongside the first four singles rubbers of the women’s Bathurst Cup.

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Match results:

• USA Men leads France Men 2-0:

  • 2:00 PM (1st singles): Freddie Bristowe (USA) def Jean-Baptiste Rossi (FRA) 6/3 6/0 6/0

  • 4:00 PM (2nd singles): Noah Motz (USA) def Clément Depreeuw (FRA) 4/6 6/2 6/2 6/4

• GB Men level with Australia Men at 1-1:

  • 6:00 PM (2 vs 1 reverse singles): Bertie Vallat (GBR) lost to Oliver Pridmore (AUS) 1/6 6/2 2/6 4/6

  • 8:00 PM (1 vs 2 reverse singles): Robert Shenkman (GBR) def Michael Williams (AUS) 6/5 6/2 6/0

Order of play for Tuesday (all times CEST):

• 11:00 AM: Georgie Willis (GBR) vs Emma Clyde (ROW)

• 12:30 PM: Tara Lumley (GBR) vs Saskia Bollerman (ROW)

• 2:00 PM: Freddie Bristowe & Noah Motz (USA) vs Nicolas Victoir & Michel Brunoro (FRA)

• 4:00 PM: Katherine Carney (GBR) vs Jo See Tan (ROW)

• 5:30 PM: Jess Garside (GBR) vs Frederika Adam (ROW)

• 7:00 PM: Robert Shenkman & Will Flynn (GBR) vs Oliver Pridmore & Michael Williams (AUS)

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Tournament results and reports:

• 4-11 Apr: World Masters. Nicholas Victoir def Pete Boyles 4/6 6/2 6/4 (Over 50’s Singles), Nicholas Victoir & Michel Brunoro def Pete Boyles & Tony Simpson 6/2 6/1 (Over 50’s Doubles), Luke Danby def Guy Devereux 6/0 6/1 (Over 55’s Singles), Guy Devereux & Jeremy Wintersteen def Simon Barker & Peter Holmes 6/2 6/3 (Over 55’s Doubles), Bill Barker def Ed Popplewell 5/6 6/4 6/4 (Over 60’s Singles), Michael Happell def Geoffrey Russell 6/0 6/0 (Over 65’s Singles), John Prenn def Richard Hince 6/3 6/3 (Over 70’s SingleS), Jonathan Hamer & Richard Hince def John Prenn & Mark Nicholls 6/2 6/4 (Over 70’s Doubles), Alan Oliver def Simon de Halpert 6/3 6/1 (Over 75’s Singles), Philip Shaw-Hamilton & Nigel Draffan def Simon de Halpert & Alan Oliver 64 61(Over 75’s Doubles), Simon de Halpert def Dick Tanfield 6/4 6/5 (Over 80’s Singles), Simon de Halpert & Richard Pettit def Dick Tanfield & Jonathan Pardee 6/5 6/1 (Over 80’s Doubles)

• 10-12 Apr: Category A Open. Vaughan Hamilton def Zak Eadle 4/6 6/4 6/0

• 10-12 Apr: NSW Amateur. Kieran Booth def Oliver Pridmore 3/6 6/3 6/2 (Singles), Olvier Pridmore & Michael Williams def Kieran Booth & Ben Hudson 2/6 6/4 6/4 (Doubles), Jesse Lauechli & Graeme Blundstone def Ted Alexander & James Cannon 9/4 (B Grade Doubles), Ben Dickinson def Sammy Legg 9/8 (Singles Plate), Sammy Legg & Ben Dickinson def Alex Rackham & Darcy Webster-Jones 9/4 (Doubles Plate)

• 22-26 Apr: World Doubles Championship. Camden Riviere & Tim Chisholm def John Lumley & Steve Virgona 0/6 6/2 6/2 0/6 6/0 3/6 6/3 6/4

• 24-26 Apr: Australian Amateur Women’s. Emma Clyde def Jo See Tan 6/1 6/2 (Singles), Emma Clyde & Jo See Tan def Louise Field & Rose Blanden 6/0 6/1 (Doubles), Rose Blanden def Julia McCahey 9/6 (B Grade Singles), George Lewis & Anna Yates def Eve Filippelli & Isabella Lo Presti 9/6 (B Grade Doubles), Isabella Lo Presti def Anna Yates 9/5 (C Grade Singles), Julia McCahey & Prue McCahey def Amanda Murphy & Julie Shenstone 9/1 (Doubles Plate)

Real tennis in the popular press:

• Warwickshire tennis club to host real tennis world championships — via BBC News

• Warwickshire club to host World Doubles Championships for first time — via Leamington Observer

• “I was the first woman to present sports news on the BBC” — via BBC News

• World Real Tennis Doubles John Lumley, British Number 1, receiving from Rob Fahey at Moreton Morrell Club semi-final — via Warwickshire World

• Last surviving real tennis court of its kind in Scotland under threat — via The Scotsman

• INTERVIEW: Get to know the T&RA’s New CEO, Nick Orr — via Tennis & Rackets Association

• INTERVIEW: Cesca Sweet Preps for the World Challenge — via Tennis & Rackets Association

• 2027 Ladies World Championship News — via the Tennis & Rackets Association

• INTERVIEW: Claire Fahey on her rackets journey and prepping for the Ladies World Challenge — via Tennis & Rackets Association

Unofficial Real Tennis World Rankings:

• Biggest rise (top 100): Charlie Braham (+22) — Reshuffle after end of National League season

• Biggest fall (top 100): Zack Smart (-30) — Reshuffle after end of National League season

Unofficial Real Tennis World Championships:

• Level:

  • Camden Riviere (not challenged)

• Handicap:

  • 26 Mar: Bertie Vallat def Rory Giddins (Queen’s Club Championship)

  • 27 Mar: Bertie Vallat def Jamie Giddins (Queen’s Club Championship)

2027 IRTPA World Race (after 9/14 events — approx 51,300 points remain1)

1. John Lumley (62,822 points)

2. Nick Howell (39,832 points) (+1)

3. Robert Fahey (37,500 points) (-1)

4. Ben Taylor-Matthews (33,013 points)

Real tennis online media:

• realtennisflair — via Instagram

• palacepov — via Instagram

• lady chiswick — via Instagram

Real Tennis Fantasy League (after 8/10 events)

1. Novak (759 points, played boost)

2. CryMeARiviere (747 points, played boost)

3. Men Taylor-Batthews (737 points, played boost)

4. nick r (656 points, played boost)

5. Cone (649 points, played boost)

Upcoming major events:

• 30 April-15 May: Moore Family Office £20k Challenge. Oratory. Details & tickest via this link.

• 23-31 May: Bathust Cup. Paris.

• 5-14 June: US Professional Singles playing for the Schochet Cup. Newport. Enter here.

• 14-19 July: Champions Trophy. Royal Tennis Court.

Upcoming tournaments and entry forms:

• 1-3 May: Over 40’s Open Singles. Seacourt.

• 1-3 May: US Women’s National Amateur. Newport.

• 8-10 May: US Amateur. Tuxedo.

• 9-10 May: Jesmond Dene Cup. Jesmond Dene.

• 26 April: U16 Handicap Doubles. Bristol.

• 15-17 May: British Amateur Doubles. Queen’s.

• 16-17 May: Oratory 20-29 Open Singles. Oratory.

• 16-17 May: Leamington 20-29 Open Singles. Leamington.

• 16-17 May: Prested Hall of Fame Handicap Doubles. Prested.

• 16 May: Cambridge Handicap Mixed Doubles. Cambridge.

• 16-18 May: Fortune Decanter (Handicap Mixed Doubles). Petworth.

• 30-31 May: British Over 60’s Amateur (Kershaw Cup). Manchester. Enter here.

• 4-7 June: LRTA Mixed Handicap Doubles. Seacourt.

• 6-7 June: Scottish National Handicap Championships. Radley. Email scotlandrealtennis@outlook.com

• 12-14 June: The Rosebowl. Newmarket.

• 18-21 June: King’s Goblet. Royal Tennis Court.

• 19-21 June: US Mixed Doubles. Tuxedo.

• 25-28 June: Pineapple Cup. Newport.

Save the date:

• 22 May 2026: Manchester Tennis and Racquet Club Sesquicentennary, Manchester. More information via this link.

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Robert Fahey stepped onto court having not won a handicap title for 22 years, with his last victory coming at the 2004 Roo Trophy against Julian Snow. His opponent, Nino Merola, was after his first piece of silverware since the 2024 Category A Open. Merola received a handicap of Rec 1/2 15, Owe 1/2 15, which while beneficial was still going to be an uphill task against a player of Fahey’s calibre. Nevertheless, Merola started well, finding difficult angles and jamming Fahey up against the wall multiple times. But anything loose and Fahey was able to seize the advantage immediately, putting Merola back under pressure again. Merola held a narrow 3/1 lead early in the first set, but Fahey quickly cut out the errors he was making to start a solid four-game run. Fahey’s giraffe serves were particularly potent, forcing Merola to boast his way out of trouble in a way that easily set Fahey up for the next ball. Merola found a spell of good railroads to bring back the score to 4/5 and threaten setting up a deciding game, but once Fahey recovered the serve he shut down any notion of a Merola comeback, sealing the set.

Being a set down, Merola kept experimenting with his serving to try and find a chink in Fahey’s gilded armour. Fahey was aware of the challenge, and saw his assignment as doing everything in his power to throw Merola off his length for every one of his serving varieties. Fahey mixed it up unpredictably, sometimes charging forward to take a short serve on the volley or holding back to carve a long serve into the corner rather than forcing. Merola’s return of serve was hot and cold; lacking the variety of Fahey, Merola leant into his best option — the cut-volley. Fahey stormed through the set, reaching set point at 5/1 which Merola defended with a sizzling cut shot into the backhand. Merola battled hard, working side-to-side as Fahey tried to work him over but Merola’s defence held. Merola gradually started pulling back the set reste by reste, defending another set point with a sweet backhand winning gallery. He eventually fell one game short of a deciding game again, with Fahey beating a 1 and 2 chase to take a two set lead.

Merola kept fighting into the third set of the best-of-5. He carried his run from the second set into a 2/1 lead. At game point in the fourth game, playing second gallery, Merola launched a main wall force that struck the bandeau, seemingly assured of beating the chase. But Fahey dropped his racket head at the last moment to delicately maneouvre the ball off his ankles and under the grille on the second bounce. Fahey took the lead again but as the end approached, so did the errors — each time, Fahey would take a swipe at the air with his racket. Even so, Fahey’s forcing was strong enough to make it up, as they exchanged games throughout the set. Merola saved a championship in the 5/4 game — albeit off a short chase — to send the set into deciding game instead. Fahey lost the first point after putting the ball into the hazard galleries, dropping to his knees in frustration. Shortly after, Merola was 30-0 up after beating a chase 2, and almost had a set point had the net not interjected in Fahey’s favour. Fahey’s play at the grille corner gave him the advantage, winning the match with a tight but fair not-up call on Merola.

Fahey will next be in action at the US Pro Singles in Newport, while Merola’s season draws to a close having established himself in the top strata of UK-based professionals across the course of the season.

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Match results:

• 6:00 PM: Robert Fahey (Owe 1/2 15) def Nino Merola (Rec 1/2 15) 6/4 6/4 6/5

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The evening began with the much anticipated semi-final between Radley pro Nino Merola and the tournament wildcard Jack Josephs. An anxious start from Merola saw him concede the first three games of the match. He was experimenting with his serve, but no matter what he tried, Josephs was able to step inside the ball with his open-stance foorehand, playing it under the galleries and engaging in a backhand rally. With the rally established, Josephs’s retrieval was solid and dependable, while Merola’s unforced errors began to bite. Eventually, Merola struck a vein of form, beating game point in the fifth game with a series of heavy cut shots to beat worse than 2. But at game point at 3/2, playing better than the door, Merola slid the ball into the door gallery instead to lose the chase. Josephs now had the advantage again, using the handicap as wind at his back as he went on to take the first set.

Merola was more more positive at the start of the second set, but at the expense of more errors. Josephs was unphased by Merola’s antics at the other end, going about his business as he had done for the whole match. Both players were in search of the right balance in their play. For Merola, he needed to find the right level of attack without giving away too many free points or letting Josephs into the rally. For Josephs, it was about not getting suckered in to playing an expansive shot and deviating from his game plan. Josephs went up 4/1 in the second set before Merola’s balance finally got established. He brought the deficit back to one game. Josephs had a match point in the 5/4 game, which Merola defended with a cut-volley that curved into Joseph’s body, cramping him for room and sending the set into a deciding game again. Merola opened with back-to-back galleries, before stepping up to serve an ace on a pique serve. His play on the tambour gave him the advantage, winning the set after the second change of ends.

Merola carried his run through to reach 2/0 in the third before hitting another fallow patch. Josephs was ready to capitalise, fighting through the next three games and holding the lead again. He was just about to make the advantage decisive, with Merola setting a ball up off the back wall on game point in the 3/2 game and giving Josephs a clear shot at the open grille. However, he missed high, with Merola able to step in and play the ball deep into Josephs’s backhand instead. Merola finally stepped up to finish the match off, winning the last four games and securing his place in the final.

The galleries packed out for the second semi-final to see two of the most prolific players in the history of the game face-off. 13-time World Champion Rob Fahey played 8-time Ladies World Champion Claire Fahey for just the third time in the careers in a competitive context, and for the first time in eight years. From the first ball, it was clear that both had put their pride on the line and were not treating it as a light exhibition. Rob Fahey was keen to control the play, finding an extra step in his movement across the court — something he normally only brings out in decisive games late in a set, but this time it was from the first ball onwards. Claire Fahey was having to deal with the extra heat, not helped by some poor serving early in the set, setting up Rob for repeated shots at the main wall dedans. Nevertheless, she brought her best defensive play out, with few mistakes in open play meaning each rally had to end in a winner one way or the other. Rob Fahey won the first four games before dropping off his intensity slightly, allowing Claire Fahey to get back into the match with her extreme cut shots. She came within one point of levelling the scoreline at 4-all but Rob Fahey was able to find yet another main wall force at the decisive moment, pressing on to win the set.

Though the early stages of the second set were once again even, sharing the games to 2-all, Rob Fahey was too strong on any ball given to him in open space. Even when Claire Fahey did manage to generate some difficulty with a ball jamming against the wall or off the tambour, he was able to dance across and play it back safely, backing himself to recover the rally again at a later point. Despite Claire Fahey’s repeated winners and fast forces, Rob’s shot quality was superior, as he marched home with the final four games of the match. After the match, they embraced in the middle and took a moment to appreciate the crowd, applauding them for several minutes before leaving the court.

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The tournament concludes on Friday with the final, which will be played as a best-of-5 set match. Fahey will attempt to win his first handicap competition since the 2004 Roo Trophy, where he defeated Julian Snow in the final, while Merola searches for his first piece of silverware since the 2024 Category A Open.

Match results:

• 5:00 PM: Jack Josephs (Rec 1/2 15) lost to Nino Merola (Owe 1/2 15) 6/2 5/6 6/3

• 7:00 PM: Robert Fahey (Owe 15) def Claire Fahey (Rec 1/2 15) 6/3 6/2

Order of play for Friday:

• 6:00 PM: Robert Fahey vs Nino Merola

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A new name was guaranteed to be etched onto the World Championship plate, since the inaugural and only previous winner, Lea Van Der Zwalmen, had retired the championship having won the previous five editions. The two competitors were the top two players in the World Rankings, with real tennis World Champion Claire Fahey having won the 2026 British Open and Hampshire cricketer Cesca Sweet having won the 2025 British Open. Fahey won the toss and served first. Through the first game, both players had trouble picking up the return of serve on the backhand, meaning their opponent could bank on winning the point whenever serving from the right box. Meanwhile, the left box was a much more even proposition. Fahey used the early advantage to stretch out a 7-1 lead. Sweet then discovered some rhythm, pulling back the next four points. The play was high-quality and entertaining, with both players having to venture forward to cover drop-shots and having to quickly move back to cover deep balls into the corners — a particular highlight was a between-the-legs shot off the back wall from Fahey. The scoring then evened off, with short runs starting in the right box and ending in the left. Sweet levelled the game at 12-all, but a pair of aces from Fahey followed by a crisp backhand finish gave the real tennis champion the first game.

Sweet took the early lead in the second game, with both players developing their backhand returns to make the play an even contest. The packed galleries at Queen’s were in full voice throughout, egged on by Fahey’s emotive fist-pumps. Sweet held the advantage through the first phases of the game, holding at most a four-point lead. Fahey took a new ball at 7-3. On the first rally thereafter, Sweet caught the frame, holding her racket on the back of her neck in anguish. Fahey’s serving saw her win the next seven points, putting her in the lead for the first time in the game. Sweet brought it back even at 10-all, getting the ball to spit out of the back wall and catch Fahey with a bad angle on her backhand. Fahey put herself up 13-11, before Sweet played a full-stretch forehand volley that stuck against the side wall to regain the hand. Sweet served two aces to 13-all, with Fahey opting to play a set to 5. She immediately recovered the serve. Her serving was the most accurate it had been in the match, picking off all five points to secure the second game.

Fahey dominated the third game. Combined with the last five points of the second game, she put together a run of 18 points before Sweet could finally take her out of the service box. Sweet wasn’t close to challenging Fahey on the return of serve, as she tried to scrape the ball back, but even when she did get the ball back it set Fahey up for an easy finish. Even when she did recover the serve, Sweet couldn’t make progress, as Fahey won the third game without dropping a point. Sweet’s last hurrah came at the start of the fourth game, when she won the first three points, but the result by this point was inevitable. Fahey steamed ahead, dropping her racket to the floor and throwing her outstretched arms at the gallery after she served her final ace.

Fahey’s win makes her the first player since Peter Latham in 1902 to hold the real tennis and rackets World Championships simultaneously, becoming just the second player in history to achieve the feat. She becomes the first player to win both championships since Howard Angus in the 1970s though he never held both titles simultaneously. The only other person to acheive the feat was Jim Dear in the 1950s. She becomes the second women’s World Champion, winning on her third attempt having lost the final on two previous occasions to Lea Van Der Zwalmen.

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Match results:

• 11:00 AM: Claire Fahey def Cesca Sweet 15/12 18/13 15/0 15/4

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The two quarter-finals of the evening saw the event’s top two seeds, Robert Fahey and Bryn Sayers, enter the competition having received byes through the first round. Fahey lined up against Bristol professional Zak Eadle, with Eadle receiving 15 points of handicap every game. For Eadle, even though he was receiving points, it was always going to be an uphill task given the tournament demands the true handicap difference be halved. Nevertheless, he set about his task well, retrieving Fahey’s incessant side-to-side play well. Both players were finding all three targets on the court well, with Fahey sliding several balls into the winning gallery from very thin angles. Though the first few games were evenly shared, Eadle broke away to a two game lead at 3/2 after winning a game point with a ball that deviated over the net tape and into the stroke area in front of the tambour despite a flat-out Fahey trying to cover. Through the rest of the set, Eadle was successful in largely confining Fahey to the hazard end, getting several balls to roll unreturnably out of the back wall nick. Eadle took the first set and looked a strong chance to do well in the second.

Fahey had other ideas. After Eadle took the first game of the second set, Fahey dialled in his main wall force. It provided an effective release valve. Even if it didn’t make it into the dedans, it was strong enough to force an error or weak response from Eadle, or at a minimum ensure a long chase. Spending more time at the service end again, Fahey progressively improved his giraffe — served from the gallery side of the court — as the set wore on. At first, Eadle had just enough room to work the ball into a gallery, but increasingly he had no option but to boast out off the high service wall. Fahey’s cut-volley also improved, extracting errors and short chases out of Eadle’s forehand. Fahey won the next five games, holding four set points in the seventh, which Eadle defended. But he couldn’t hold on any longer. Fahey took the set then immediately carried on into the third, with every element of his game continuing to improve. There was little Eadle could do, letting his frustration and astonishment be known, twice dropping his racket to the floor out of disbelief. Fahey won the final set easily as well, moving on to face his wife Claire Fahey in the semi-finals.

The last of the quarter-finals pitted Bryn Sayers against Nino Merola. The match started with the statistical improbability of three chase-off calls in the first five games, including two in the first game alone. Throughout the first set Sayers had a strong grip on the service end, controlling the play well. Merola was poor on the return of serve, trying to lean into the big weapon that is his cut-volley but framing balls into the net or the floor. With the handicap behind him and with a few of his shots still coming off, Merola was able to remain vaguely in the hunt in the first set, but Sayers’s consistency and control was far too strong.

The second set continued in much the same manner as the first, with Sayers still leading from the front, but Merola just keeping in the contest. Merola battled to 3-all, riding the natural advantage of the 15-0 games afforded by the handicap. Sayers extended the next two games to put himself within touching distance of the finish line. Merola took one last roll of the dice, leaning into his main wall force to break through. It paid off, winning the next three games and stealing the second set. Merola’s confidence grew in the third as well, now landing his cut-volleys to short chases once again. Sayers’s couldn’t find a serve to restrict him as Merola took a decisive 3/0 lead early in the set. Sayers fought hard, but Merola’s hot hand was too strong. Merola dominated the final set, with his win improving his handicap to better than scratch for the first time in his career.

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The tournament continues next week, with the semi-finals taking place on Thursday evening and the final on Friday evening. The semi-finals present a rare opportunity to see the most prolific male World Champion play the most prolific female World Champion for just the third time in their careers in a competitive match — and the first time played off a handicap.

Match results:

• 5:00 PM: Robert Fahey (Love) def Zak Eadle (Rec 15) 3/6 6/2 6/1

• 7:00 PM: Nino Merola (Rec 1/2 15) def Bryn Sayers (Owe 1/2 15) 3/6 6/5 6/2

Order of play for Thursday:

• 5:00 PM: Jack Josephs vs Nino Merola

• 7:00 PM: Robert Fahey vs Claire Fahey

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The first of the quarter-finals saw battle between local pro Claire Fahey and Petworth professional Louis Gordon. In the early stages, Gordon was trying to preserve his shoulder, eschewing any of his characterstic big forces and opting to try and beat Fahey into the corners instead. Fahey lapped it up, at least initially, out-rallying Gordon around the tambour. Fahey took the first three games of the match before a fallow period followed, hitting a series of unforced errors as her concentration waned. Gordon, meanwhile, wound up his attacking shots and started to test Fahey’s volley defence. He brought the score back to 4/3 but after Fahey took the eighth game, Gordon’s fightback fell away. Fahey took the set moments later.

Fahey’s serving was poor in the second set, allowing Gordon to stand and deliver hard-hit forces at the dedans. Throughout the match, Fahey had ignored the galleries, instead trying to lay short chases on the floor. She had also been perfectly happy to give up long chases, backing herself to beat them on the change of ends. But the strategy wholly depended on the execution of her cut-volley, which was not firing well through the second set. Her line erred, allowing Gordon to step across and fire balls at the tambour instead. Eventually she had to change tack, especially as Gordon’s railroad was biting back hard. She took on the force, initially catching Gordon out for pace, but by that point the set was too far gone, with Gordon evening up the scoreline going into the third.

Gordon won the first three points of the third set and it seemed like his control of the match would continue. But Fahey hit a vein of form, winning eleven of the next twelve points to secure a firm foothold in the final set. Gordon’s balls were starting to spray, giving Fahey opportunities to put the ball away. At a deciding game point while 4/0 up, Fahey hit a shot into the top of the net tape. Annoyed, she kicked her racket at the tambour. Gordon fought hard to bring the scoreline back to 3/5 with the final few points hanging like a burden on Fahey. On a deciding point in that game, Fahey landed a tight high serve to secure the match, turning to the dedans and throwing her arms in the air in celebration.

The local intrigue continued with Oratory’s neo-pro Henry Henman playing the Royal Tennis Court’s Jack Josephs in the second match of the evening. Henman attacked Josephs’s serve from the start, sending Josephs diving into the corners to retrieve the ball. The rallies were long, with Henman slowly working Josephs over and eventually finding a winner. But it was tough work, as Josephs kept putting the ball back in play no matter how hard Henman pushed. Nevertheless, Henman led throughout the set, holding a solid advantage over Josephs despite the handicap he was giving away.

Henman’s play in the second set was somewhat more reckless as he tried to force the issue. He was throwing his whole body at the ball, hitting plenty of main-wall dedans but also putting several onto the high back wall and out for long chases. Josephs stayed calm, fighting for every point and waiting for the implosion to come from the other end. Henman had moments of brilliance, but would also often throw in a few strange decisions or unexplainable unforced errors.

After Josephs had a 2/0 lead, the rest of the set was evenly matched. Henman found himself with three match points in the 5/4 game. The first he slammed at the dedans, picking up plenty of topspin from the top of the net, sending Josephs forward to cover the ball and resulting in a chase. Changing ends, Henman served a drag serve for the first time in the match, then inexplicably ran forward to defend the galleries — giving up the whole forehand side of the court. Still, Josephs went down the line and cramped Henman for room on the volley. On the second, Henman made an error on the half-volley. On the third, Josephs hit an easy ball onto the backhand side. With the grille and tambour wide open, Henman could only put the ball onto the top of the net tape, dribbling over for a hazard chase. Changing ends, Josephs served a short railroad, catching Henman flatfooted as he had lined up to shoot a high back wall shot. The deciding game soon became a deciding point. Henman had the serve, but couldn’t find the tambour again as Josephs slotted a ball into the last gallery. Playing off the chase, Henman boasted a ball short, threatening the last gallery line on the floor. Josephs, running forward, jammed Henman up against the tambour wall to walk away with the set.

Initially, it looked like Henman had put the disappointment of the second set behind him, pushing out a 3/1 lead in the third set and having several opportunities to make it 4/1. But Josephs kept fighting back time and time again. Time and time again, Henman went searching for the winning openings, but nothing seemed to stick except his main-wall dedans. Josephs was always there to cover the miss, keeping the rally going until he could find an awkward ball onto the tambour, into a nick or simply an unforced error. As the set wore on, Josephs opened up in his play, looking for attacking options whenever they presented themselves, sliding several balls into the backhand side of the dedans. Josephs won the last four games of the match, with Henman throwing away plenty of opportunities to put the game to bed. Josephs

Play continues on Thursday evening with the remaining two quarter-finals, with the semi-finals and final to follow next week.

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Match results:

• 5:00 PM: Claire Fahey (Owe 1/4 15) def Louis Gordon (Love) 6/3 2/6 6/3

• 7:00 PM: Jack Josephs (Love) def Henry Henman (Owe 1/2 15) 3/6 6/5 6/4

Order of play for Thursday:

• 5:00 PM: Robert Fahey vs Zak Eadle

• 7:00 PM: Nino Merola vs Bryn Sayers

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When Kieran Booth stepped on court, it marked the fourteenth time he had reached a Victorian Open final. He had only lost on three previous occasions: once each to then current and then future World Champions Robert Fahey and Camden Riviere, and once to his current opponent, Michael Williams. Williams was playing in his fifth final, with his only victory over Booth coming the last time the event was held in Melbourne in 2022.

Both players attacked any ball they could in open space right from the start. They either looked to slam it around the angles or play heavy cut into a corner. But both players were also defensively sound, able to deal with many of the more serious threats. The rallies saw each aggressive shot was met with a quick riposte as the initiative swung both ways. The first few games were even as Booth’s outright winners and Williams’s defensive errors were balanced against Booth’s overextensions and Williams’s counterpunches. Late in the first set, Booth’s main-wall forcing came good, while Williams’s errors on the backhand mounted. Booth won the last three games to secure the set.

Trailing in the match, Williams determined the best response was to push harder on the accelerator. The balance of the match was restored, with the first four games shared between them. A long rally at 2-all, 15-all proved decisive. Having had the advantage for much of the reste, Williams slammed a ball into the net, dropping his racket to the floor and bending over in frustration. From then on, his shots started to be more reckless, with Booth sitting in and absorbing the pressure, finishing the points with excellent execution. Booth won all the remaining games, throwing a fist-pump in celebration as he struck the final point.

Williams returned to the court in the afternoon for the doubles final, partnered by Oliver Pridmore. Their opponents were the first seeds, defending champions and home court professionals Chris Chapman and John Woods-Casey. Pridmore played back, covering the court well and sending bullets down the forehand wall. But Woods-Casey and Chapman both played with excellent hands, picking balls off the wall late and sending them back with interest. Chapman was particularly impressive, turning on Williams’s side wall serves to take them on the backhand and picking the ball low off the ground as Woods-Casey jumped over any missed forces. Pridmore tried to keep up with the pace of the return, including one retrieval where he slid so far his backside ended up on the floor. Williams’s presence at the net gave Pridmore the freedom to play behind him, knowing that anything played to the backhand was covered. The games again exchanged back and forth throughout the first set until Pridmore and Williams started to break away, hardly giving away a chase as they won the last three games of the set.

Pridmore and Williams had the lead in the second set, but once Woods-Casey and Chapman were able to find some chases, they started to claw their way back into contention. With a point to level the set at stake, and playing off a hazard worse than second gallery chase, Williams slammed the ball into the high back wall. Woods-Casey ran forward to cover it, playing the ball after it bounced back off the net tape and lobbing it into the hazard second gallery. He appealed to the marker for the point but it was denied. Though they won the game shortly after, it would be their last of the match, as Pridmore and Williams ran through the final few games to secure victory. It marked their first victory as a pair, having each previously won once, each with Booth, while Chapman and Woods-Casey were subjected to their third defeat in four finals.

The 2026 Australian domestic Open season will continue in August with the New South Wales Open, and will conclude in October with the Tasmanian Open.

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Match results:

• 10:30 AM (North): Kieran Booth (1) def Michael Williams (4) 6/3 6/2

• 2:00 PM (North): Chris Chapman & John Woods-Casey (1) lost to Oliver Pridmore & Michael Williams (2) 3/6 3/6

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As the event being held at one of the few two-court venues in the world, the semi-finals of the Victorian Open saw the unusual phenomenon of both matches kicking off simultaneously. On the North court, defending champion Kieran Booth played local professional John Woods-Casey in a rematch of the previous edition’s final at Ballarat. Woods-Casey struggled to maintain control of Booth’s railroads, setting up shot after shot onto the forehand back wall for Booth to eat up. When he did get into a rally, Woods-Casey found himself outmatched as Booth extracted severe cut from the quick Melbourne court. After giving up the first three games easily, the fourth was an even battle between the pair, with Woods-Casey starting to find some effective counter-play. But then Booth wound up his force, unleashing at the main wall and breaking away once again. He took the set shortly thereafter, having not dropped a game. Woods-Casey didn’t win a game until he was 0/2 down in the second set. He would only win one further, finding it difficult to break through the numerous deuce games, with Booth winning through to yet another final.

Meanwhile on the South, Michael Williams was challenged by the unseeded Ben Hudson. The play was chaotic, with Hudson playing unpredictable shots that left Williams scrambling around trying to keep the play going. However, departing from the ordinary playbook meant Hudson gave plenty of opportunities to Williams, who took an early three-game lead. Hudson restored a bit more control, putting Williams back on the defensive again. Even so, Williams had an answer for every one of Hudson’s kill shots, turning the tables and waiting for an error from his opponent instead. The games were evenly shared through the back half of the first set, with Williams holding on courtesy of his early lead.

The second set saw a long opening game featuring seven deuces as the two continued to prove evenly matched. They remained locked in an unflinching battle throughout the set, with the ball zipping through the air between their respective volleys. Hudson was all over the court, chasing everything down with his quick feet, while Williams kept up the pressure with his lack of errors. No more than a game separated them throughout, with the players only able to make reasonable progress when at the service end. As the set progressed, both recognised the importance, picking off gallery chases where possible. The set ran to a deciding game, with the match decided by a sequence of hard-hit slap volleys from Williams, causing Hudson to make the error when trying to dig out the ball on the half-volley.

Hudson and Williams returned to the South court a few hours later — interspersed by some plate and B-grade matches — for the doubles semi-finals. Hudson partnered Kieran Booth, while Williams teamed up with Oliver Pridmore. Williams and Pridmore combined well; Pridmore swept up everything at the back of the court with ease, allowing Williams to press forward on the volley. Pridmore’s return of serve put Booth under immediate pressure on the forehand, varying the length to pull him up the court and out of position, with Hudson failing to drop in behind. Pridmore and Williams went ahead early, holding firm as Pridmore was able to easily cover anything Booth put onto the tambour, despite dropping to the floor to do a barrel roll on multiple occasions. Booth and Hudson’s best chances to remain in the set came in the long 2/4 game, but Pridmore and Williams were making few errors, and Booth’s raw power was being beaten by Williams’s spike volleys at the net. Pridmore and Williams took the last game comfortably, then broke away to a 3/0 lead in the second set, doing most of the work from the hazard end. Booth and Hudson stole back a game with a rally where Hudson spent half the reste lying prone next to the forehand side of the net. A rare sequence of errors followed from Pridmore and Williams, allowing their opponents to draw level at 3-all. Booth then joined the party on the floor with a couple of forward dives trying to retrieve a ball next to the main wall, sliding on his backside into the main wall each time. With his confidence in the forehand side shaken, Pridmore and Williams pressed on through the last few games to secure their place in the final.

Back on the North court, the other doubles semi-final saw the local pro team and defending champions Chris Chapman and John Woods-Casey play the interstate professionals Jackson Pastoor and Alex Marino-Hume. Pastoor and Marino-Hume were not prepared for the shot quality they were facing from the Melbourne pros, who were asking questions with every ball they played. Chapman and Woods-Casey were effortless in their movement; no ball was left uncovered and any slight inconsistency from their opponents was quickly pounced upon. Pastoor and Marino-Hume’s unforced error count hurt, providing a gift to Chapman and Woods-Casey that they scarcely needed. After winning two points in the opening game, Pastoor and Marino-Hume would win just one further point in the whole set. The second set was better for Pastoor and Marino-Hume, picking off two games as Chapman and Woods-Casey relaxed slightly, knowing that their progression to the final was assured.

Play concludes on Sunday with the singles and doubles finals, alongside finals for the plate and B-grade competitions.

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Match results:

• 11:45 AM (North): Kieran Booth (1) def John Woods-Casey (3) 6/0 6/2

• 11:45 AM (South): Michael Williams (4) def Ben Hudson 6/3 6/5

• 4:00 PM (North): Chris Chapman & John Woods-Casey (1) def Alexander Marino-Hume & Jackson Pastoor 6/0 6/2

• 4:00 PM (South): Kieran Booth & Ben Hudson lost to Oliver Pridmore & Michael Williams (2) 2/6 3/6

Order of play for Sunday (all times AEDT):

• 10:30 AM (North): Kieran Booth (1) vs Michael Williams (4)

• 2:00 PM (North): Chris Chapman & John Woods-Casey (1) vs Oliver Pridmore & Michael Williams (2)

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The first round of matches resumed with the Petworth professional Louis Gordon playing the Oxford professional Craig Greenhalgh. Both were lacking in competitive match-play since the British Open earlier in the season, where neither had progressed from qualifying. Gordon’s recurrent shoulder injury looked as though it was going to be a significant hindrance during the early exchanges. He was somewhat coy, playing his volleys with both hands and not keen to run about too much. Greenhalgh was scrapping well, covering both sides of the court and getting plenty back to ask questions of Gordon. Greenhalgh found himself 4/2 up and with an opponent who seemed unwilling to run about and was boasting balls into the net, so it seemed as though it would be an easy result. It wasn’t to be, as Gordon started to unleash his force. Greenhalgh had no response. He could find a serve that could prevent Gordon from either forcing or carving a ball deep into the backhand corner. For the remainder of the set, no rally saw more than three strokes, many just two, until the end, when Gordon ended a four stroke rally with a grille. Gordon continued his run through the second set, barring an injury time-out after he framed a Greenhalgh force into his cheekbone. Gordon kept beating short chases with a force, then kept laying them into the backhand corner as Greenhalgh had no further attacking options. Gordon’s run of ten straight games took him all the way through the second set, securing his progression into the quarter-finals.

The local interest then picked up with the local professional Claire Fahey taking on the other Petworth professional, Tom Durack, who was receiving a handicap. Immediately, the rallies were much longer than the previous match, playing out backhand exchanges despite the severity with which balls were sticking down out of the nick at both ends. Initially, Fahey’s line was poor, giving plenty of balls down the centre of the court for Durack to mop up, but it improved as the match wore on. Also, she was striking an unusually high unforced error count as well. At 2/3 down in the first set, she rallied ahead, stretching out a decisive lead in the set. By the second, everything was flowing smoothly for the women’s World Champion, Her demi-pique serve was causing enough uncertainty to generate a weak response from Durack and was stepping across and playing her backhand well. But at 4/1 up, she stalled out, with Durack recovering from 40-0 or 40-15 down on multiple occasions. He managed to bring the scoreline back to 4-all before Fahey set about on one final push to the finish line. She took the last two games to secure victory and lock in a match with Gordon the following week.

The last of the first round matches saw the second of three local pros, Henry Henman enter the draw, up against the previous edition’s finalist Darren Long. Henman broke an early lead as Long worked his way through a number of unforced errors. But that quickly settled down, honing his railroad and force as his key weapons. Henman was in an ultra-aggresive mindset, thrashing at everything within reach but spraying the ball all over the place. His serve was poor, putting the ball into empty space for Long to put away. Long’s dedans hitting was on target all set, sliding ball after ball into the perspex shield that formed part of the dedans netting. He ran away with the set, leaving Henman searching for answers.

In the third game of the second set, Long moved across to play a ball out of the forehand corner and rolled over his ankle. Hopping away, he took an injury time-out to recuperate. He was able to return to the court and continue, but his movement wasn’t what it had been before. Henman sensed opportunity, pulling back his outlandish forcing and starting to pull Long from side to side. His game improved as a result, turning the tables of the match and building an advantage in the second set. Long battled on, still able to pressure Henman in the set plays of the serve and return, but less so in the rallies. Henman won the second set and pushed on into the third. Long’s condition improved slightly, but by now Henman was fully in the game again. Long’s forcing saw him steal a couple of games from Henman midway through the second, but by now the local pro’s confidence had returned, going on to win the match.

Play resumes next Wednesday and Thursday with the four quarter-finals to play out across two evenings. The top two seeds, Rob Fahey and Bryn Sayers, will also enter the competition at this time. The semi-finals and final will follow the following Thursday and Friday.

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Match results:

• 4:00 PM: Louis Gordon (Love) def Craig Greenhalgh (Love) 6/4 6/0

• 5:30 PM: Claire Fahey (Love) def Tom Durack (Rec 1/2 15) 6/3 6/4

• 7:00 PM: Darren Long (Owe 1/4 15) lost to Henry Henman (Love) 6/3 2/6 3/6

Order of play for Wednesday (all times BST):

• 5:00 PM: Claire Fahey vs Louis Gordon

• 7:00 PM: Jack Josephs vs Henry Henman

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Play began with two qualifying matches for the main draw singles — a third being awarded as a walkover to Alexander Marino-Hume by Rhys Williams. First on court, the Hobart professional Jackson Pastoor challenged the nomadic Ben Dickinson. Pastoor had a quick start, extending out a 3/0 lead on the back of his straight dedans shooting. But Dickinson warmed into the match, gaining plenty of success from playing balls across court into Pastoor’s outstretched forehand. The errors from Jackson started to mount, as Dickinson focussed on keeping the ball in play and letting his opponent make mistakes. He took eleven of the next thirteen games, with Pastoor’s resistance only kicking in when 5/1 down in the second set, as Dickinson started searching for the big finish to the match. Pastoor pulled back two games but it was too-little, too-late as Dickinson secured qualification to the main draw.

The other qualifying match saw a battle between Sammy Legg and Michael Happell. Legg’s game was superior through much of the first set, throwing in a variety of serves that each generated a straightforward ball in response. When Happell did manage to get Legg to play out a longer rally, the play became more even, but such events were few and far between. From 1-all in the first set, Legg won seven straight games before Happell could reply. When he did, it came on the back of being able to engage Legg in more rallies, which resulted in more errors from the young Tasmanian. Happell took four games himself as the match seemed destined for a third set. Legg had other ideas, stepping up for some hyper-aggressive returns of serve that kicked his game back into gear. A strong finish beckoned, taking the last four games and wiping out Happell’s last hopes.

The main draw began with matches taking place simultaneously on both courts. On the North, Ben Hudson took on Oliver Pridmore. Hudson stole a march on Pridmore, pressing hard while the Tasmanian amateur struggled for consistency. While his speed around the court was far from lacking, when he got to the ball he couldn’t find anything useful to do with it, often pushing it back to the middle of the court where Hudson stood, waiting to slam it back into difficult areas again. Though Pridmore found some counterplay late in the first set, his chances of winning it had long since evaporated. His woes then continued into the second set, dropping the first three games and once again finding himself under pressure. In response he pushed up the court, playing out several rallies from around last gallery even if it exposed him to the risk of being lobbed. Hudson was a defensive beast, getting strings on everything no matter how far out of position he looked. Again, Pridmore looked to have recovered slightly mid-way through the set, but Hudson had the legs to bring it home strong, winning the match, overturning 10 points of handicap difference.

Meanwhile on the South court, local pro John Woods-Casey took on American Ben Dickinson. The tennis was fast-paced, with both players looking to get a move-on. Woods-Casey was precise in his shot-making, taking advantage of Dickinson’s defensive weaknesses. While Dickinson had some brilliant attacking moments, his vulnerabilities against the Woods-Casey force became evident. Woods-Casey took the first set to love, and while Dickinson had slightly more success in the second, a fairytale comeback was not to be, with Woods-Casey easing into the semi-finals.

Following on on the South court, Sydney pro Alex Marino-Hume took on local amateur Michael Williams. Marino-Hume was searching for a way through Williams’s defense through much of the first set, but couldn’t seem to break through as the Melbournian hit his targets well. He stretched out a three-game lead before starting to lose his length, giving plenty of balls on the penthouse for Marino-Hume to lap up. He pulled back to a one-game deficit, playing out a tight deuce game at 4/3. Williams backed himself to win the backhand-to-backhand rallies, as Marino-Hume often was the first to make an error. Williams took the game, going on to wrap up the set moments later. Williams broke away early in the second set as well, despite Marino-Hume’s best efforts to keep in touch. Williams’s target hitting remained the highlight, stretching out to 4/0 before Marino-Hume pulled back two games. A full fightback didn’t materialise, with Williams taking the set and progressing to the semi-finals.

Back on the north court, first seed Kieran Booth entered the competition against Sammy Legg. Legg was lightning quick around the court in the first set, chasing down anything that Booth had to throw at him. Booth’s play was loose, especially on the return of serve, often giving Legg an easy ball off the penthouse that he eagerly cashed in. Booth’s big weapon was his forcing at the dedans, which kept him alive through much of the set even though Legg led most of the way. Legg reached a 5/3 lead, which Booth brought back to set up a deciding game. However, after Legg snuck two chases past him on the forehand, he finally had the decisive advantage he needed to take the set.

Booth was eager to make sure an upset wasn’t on the cards, lifting his game for the second set and making quick work of the upstart Tasmanian after a long opening deuce game. Legg was trying hard to force his way through Booth again, but more often than not he was overstretching. Booth lapped up the easy balls from Legg as he blitzed the second set and took a lead in the third. Despite pulling back a couple of late games, Legg’s hopes of causing the day’s second upset faded, with defending champion Booth ensuring his progression.

The day concluded with the only doubles qualifying match. Pastoor and Marino-Hume teamed up, both in their second match of the day, to play Legg and Dickinson, both in their third match of the day. The service end was key, being the only way that it was possible to make progress. Legg and Pastoor played up for their respective teams, with their volley battles often entertaining the crowd. The games exchanged with the changes of ends, with Legg and Dickinson holding a slight advantage through the first set, but Pastoor and Marino-Hume pulled back to reach a deciding game. Pastoor thought he’d snuck a ball into the winning gallery but it cruelly bounced back out to hazard the line. The chase gave up the service end to Legg and Dickinson, who used it to seal the set themselves.

Legg dropped back for the second set, but the advantage that each pair was able to generate from the service end was unchanging. Pastoor and Marino-Hume held the advantage, on the back of Pastoor’s fearless volleying at the net both winning points and preventing chases. The professionals had several opportunities to convert 5/1 lead, but Legg and Dickinson fought back instead, weathering the storm of the attack and bringing the score to 4-all instead. At that point, Pastoor and Marino-Hume were back at the service end, able to win the next game and take an advantage in the 5/4 game. Legg and Dickinson saved set point as Marino-Hume’s force at the dedans barely missed high, instead taking the set to another deciding game. Legg framed a pair of Pastoor serves to give Pastoor and Marino-Hume the advantage they needed to secure the set.

In the third set, nothing could separate the pairs again, with a sisyphean battle continuing throughout. They were never separated by more than a game, with both pairs still unable to make progress from the hazard end until a chase was secured. The match seemed to be inevitably heading to another deciding game finish, with Legg and Dickinson 40-15 up while trailing 4/5. But another change of ends changed their fortune again.

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Play continues on Saturday with the semi-finals of both the singles and doubles competitions, alongside with the commencement of the singles plate matches.

Match results:

• 12:00 PM (North): Ben Dickinson def Jackson Pastoor 6/4 6/3

• 1:30 PM (North): Sammy Legg def Michael Happell 6/1 6/4

• 1:30 PM (South): Rhys Williams lost to Alexander Marino-Hume w/o

• 4:00 PM (North): Ben Hudson def Oliver Pridmore (2) 6/2 6/3

• 4:00 PM (South): Ben Dickinson lost to John Woods-Casey (3) 6/0 6/3

• 5:00 PM (North): Kieran Booth (1) def Sammy Legg 5/6 6/0 6/2

• 5:00 PM (South): Michael Williams (4) def Alexander Marino-Hume 6/4 6/2

• 7:30 PM (North): Alexander Marino-Hume & Jackson Pastoor def Ben Dickinson & Sammy Legg 5/6 6/5 6/4

Order of play for Saturday (all times AEST):

• 11:45 AM (North): Kieran Booth (1) vs John Woods-Casey (3)

• 11:45 AM (South): Michael Williams (4) vs Ben Hudson

• 4:00 PM (North): Chris Chapman & John Woods-Casey (1) vs Alexander Marino-Hume & Jackson Pastoor

• 4:00 PM (South): Kieran Booth & Ben Hudson vs Oliver Pridmore & Michael Williams (2)

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The tournament opened with Wellington professional Adam Player against Radley professional Nino Merola, who owed a point every game. Merola, barely a week on from the birth of his second child, was extremely hot and cold. One shot would be a sweet winner off the cut-volley that whistled past the net and cut down viciously, but the next would be framed into the floor. Player was the opposite, sticking in the rally as long as he could but without bringing out any extreme weapons. Merola’s erratic play kept the scoreline close throughout. He briefly came good, stringing a few games together to take the first set.

The pattern continued into the second set, with Merola unable to buy a grille and with Player reading the wide Oratory tambour well. The scoreline oscillated, with the players eventually finding themselves at 4-all for the second straight set. In that game, on deciding point, Merola served his bobble short, allowing Player to push a ball into the dedans off the main wall with Merola watching on in vain. The next game went to a deciding point as well — a set point for Player. This time, he played the same shot, but missed low, with Merola dropping the ball into Player’s forehand and winning the point. Going into a deciding game, Merola connected with a series of returns-of-serve, gaining the advantage in each point and securing enough of a buffer to take the match.

The second match was between Zak Eadle and Vaughan Hamilton. Eadle was out for revenge having lost to Hamilton less than a month prior in the final of the Category A Open. This time, Hamilton had to give Eadle a small handicap — not that it mattered in the end. After Hamilton won the first game to love, Eadle hit his stride. He was commanding on the ball, finishing the points well and looking assertive in his play. Hamilton was scrappy, spraying the ball all over and giving Eadle plenty to mop up off the back wall. Hamilton tried to wrestle control with a ball straight down the middle that left Eadle limboing out of the way but it did little to change his fortunes. Eadle had to work hard, scrambling all over the court as the set neared its end as he refused to let Hamilton back in. Eadle took six straight games to take the lead in the match.

Hamilton turned the tables in the second set, stepping up a gear and testing Eadle’s response to his railroad. The Bristol professional tried forcing his way out of trouble, but instead of sending the ball into the dedans as he was hoping, it clattered all over the penthouse, giving Hamilton an easy finish. At the other end of the court, Hamilton was better able to tame his return of serve, hitting plenty of long chases but avoiding the penthouse. He took the first five games of the set, with Eadle clawing back one late as he switched to volleying the return with some success. Hamilton took the set but the play had evened out.

Hamilton seemed to have the edge starting the third set, but Eadle’s forcing was coming good. Hamilton wasn’t ending the rally as quickly as he would have liked, with a sense of frustration beginning to build. The lead oscillated back and forth early in the set, but even when he had the advantage, Hamilton couldn’t press home for victory. His shots became searching, while Eadle smelled blood. While Hamilton was increasingly erratic — tossing his racket in frustration — Eadle was self-assured. A late surge of dedans-hitting helped Eadle to the finish line, winning four straight games to ensure his progression.

The final match of the evening was a cross-London derby between the Royal Tennis Court’s Jack Josephs and the Queen’s Club’s Neil Mackenzie. Josephs was eager to demonstrate his progression towards the top flight of real tennis pros as he scrambled from side to side to keep the rallies alive. But Mackenzie’s shot quality proved superior, allowing him to establish control early and developed a lead. Neither player leant into any outlandish shots, with the play becoming very positional, often descending into a backhand exchange. But each such exchange didn’t last long, with the server able to create enough uncertainty around the tambour to win points. Josephs brought the set back, before players exchanged games from 3-all to a 5-all decider, with the vast majority of points along the way being won by the server. In the deciding game, the pattern continued — Mackenzie winning the first couple of points before a change of ends and Josephs fighting back. With Josephs just missing the grille on the first set point, the score read 40-all, with one point to decide the set. Josephs’s first railroad was short, then he had to watch helplessly as his bobble dribbled around the back penthouse to double fault and lose the set.

Josephs took a break to recover his composure for the second set. The cat-and-mouse game continued, with Josephs having to battle hard at the hazard end to try and pry an opening at the galleries, while Mackenzie’s cut-volley often guaranteed him a short chase. For much of the set, Josephs struggled to hold the service end for more than a point, yet was able to make progress at the hazard end as Mackenzie’s serving was loose. Again, neither player broke out to a decisive lead, with the set again concluding in a deciding game. This time, Mackenzie’s play was loose, giving Josephs the opening to take the set and recover some pride. By the third set, Josephs freed up to play some more expansive tennis, growing in confidence and looking for winners. His improved play finally cracked Mackenzie, whose play fell away as Josephs took an easy set and moved on to the quarter-finals.

The remaining first round matches conclude on Friday evening, with the quarter-finals set to take place on Wednesday and Thursday next week. It will be followed by the final rounds the following week.

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Match results:

• 4:00 PM: Nino Merola (Owe 15) def Adam Player (Love) 6/4 6/5

• 5:30 PM: Vaughan Hamilton (Owe 1/2 15) lost to Zak Eadle (Love) 1/6 6/1 3/6

• 7:00 PM: Jack Josephs (Love) def Neil Mackenzie (Owe 1/2 15) 5/6 6/5 6/1

Order of play for Friday (all times BST):

• 4:00 PM: Louis Gordon vs Craig Greenhalgh

• 5:30 PM: Claire Fahey vs Tom Durack

• 7:00 PM: Darren Long vs Henry Henman

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Play resumed with the score at 2-all, with both pairs having shared the honours on the first day. The best-of-9 set format effectively reduced down to a best-of-5 set match with a winner to be decided by the end of the day. Riviere and Chisholm started play at the receiver’s end, having conceded the last game of the previous day to ensure that outcome. It allowed Chisholm to line up against Lumley’s serve — the configuration that had proved most fruitful for the defending champions on the first day. Chisholm, in particular, was much improved, seeing the ball well and striking it clean. Often, he called Riviere off balls from the penthouse, allowing himself to quickly play into the match. The pair were confident and dynamic, hitting their targets and picking off volleys with ease, while Virgona and Lumley took a while to match their opponents in intensity. Chisholm and Riviere won the first five games, before Virgona continued the cat-and-mouse tactics from the previous day by conceding the final game to have control over the choice of receivers for the sixth set.

Initially, it looked as though their decision had once again paid off, with Virgona taking Chisholm’s serve and pushing through to a four-game lead. Lumley and Virgona were able to dial up the pressure from the hazard end, sending Riviere diving around trying to keep the ball out of the dedans. Errors from Riviere and Chisholm were compounding, and it seemed as though Virgona and Lumley would try to engineer the end of the set to remain at the hazard end. Despite having attacked second gallery all week, Virgona left it alone, which had the added benefit of icing out Chisholm. With two game points for a 5/0 lead, the sense around the building was that the defending champions may look to re-engineer the service match-ups for the sixth time in the match. But Riviere was clearly uninterested in riding that see-saw all the way until a ninth set. When he hit a repeat of the boasted grille from a ball falling flush to the back wall, it was clear he was once again here to play. They cut out their errors, making Virgona and Lumley have to fight hard for every ball. The quality of play was scarcely believable to those watching on as each reste seemed to outdo the one before it. Virgona would hit a behind-the-back volley off the bandeau, only for Riviere to charge the net and spike the ball as though he were playing padel. Virgona would scrape a ball back a few centimetres off the ground, follow up with a perfect read off the battery wall only for Chisholm to thread the ball perfectly into the dedans. Chisholm and Riviere narrowed the deficit to two games, but after plenty of persistence, Lumley was able to thread a few balls into the grille to get them over the line, evening up the scoreline at 3-all.

Virgona and Lumley had finished the sixth set at the hazard end, and so were able to keep Lumley on Riviere’s serve. But Riviere and Chisholm had moved beyond such games. The defending champions had the initiative and were not going to give it up easily. They grabbed an early, three-game lead as the standard of tennis kept getting better. Both Chisholm and Virgona were creeping further up the court, not allowing the ball to be played to their feet and seeing the ball well enough to nab a volley. Every rally was worth a round of appreciative applause from the crowd, as every reste was a microcosm of four of the finest practitioners of the art of doubles play at work. Though the challengers were nearly faultless in their defensive play, they could not find a way to get the ball past the defending champions despite hitting shot after shot that would have been a winner against any other opponents. Though Virgona and Lumley came within two points of evening the score at 4-all, it would be the Americans who walked away with the set with Riviere particularly fired up after every point, screaming in Chisholm’s face once he won the final set point.

The eighth set of the day once again saw Chisholm opt to receive from Lumley — just as in the first set of the day. The set opened with an elongated deuce exchange, taken by the defending champions as each of their opponents made errors on the half-volley. They rode the wave, going on the full out attack as more errors started to seep in to Virgona and Lumley’s play. Riviere was lightning quick, covering everything from the backhand corner to the forehand by the net, most notably a ball on the high tambour where he was quick enough to have three attempts at hitting it as it bounced around the angles. Their position on the scoreboard then allowed them to ease off slightly, seeing off the last roll of the dice from the challengers, who tried to mix things up on their serve or look for increasingly difficult winners as the match slipped away from them. Though Virgona and Lumley were able to bring proceedings back to 3-all, Chisholm’s volleying at the net — including a winner hit from next to the main wall on the second gallery line having opted not to drop back after serving — was instrumental in winning a tight deuce game to surge ahead once again. Chisholm followed up with some tight bobbles in the subsequent game, putting them on the precipice. In the 5/4 game, on their first championship point and playing off chase second gallery, Riviere slid a ball into the last gallery — missing the post by less than an inch — to seal victory. Riviere and Chisholm leapt into a bear hug before screaming at their supporters in the hazard galleries.

Riviere and Chisholm’s victory puts them equal with Robert Fahey and Steve Virgona as the most successful pair in World Doubles Championship history, with six victories each. Chisholm, meanwhile, becomes the most prolific player in the World Doubles Championship, having won the inaugural edition partnered by Julian Snow. It draws the doubles season to a close for 2025/26, with the next Open doubles not until the French Open in late September to early October.

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Match results:

• Robert Fahey & Nick Howell (3) lost to John Lumley & Steve Virgona (2) 1-5

  • Day 1: 4/6 3/6 3/6 0/6

  • Day 2: 6/3 5/6

• Camden Riviere & Tim Chisholm (1) def Ben Taylor-Matthews & Bryn Sayers (4) 5-1

  • Day 1: 6/2 6/2 5/6 6/3

  • Day 2: 6/5 6/1

• Camden Riviere & Tim Chisholm (1) def John Lumley & Steve Virgona (2) 5-3

  • Day 1: 0/6 6/2 6/2 0/6

  • Day 2: 6/0 3/6 6/3 6/4

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John Lumley and Steve Virgona won the toss, opting to receive and put Virgona on Tim Chisholm’s serve. An extended knock-up followed, with Chisholm framing a ball into his face, leaving him dazed as he tried to recover his composure. Chisholm wasn’t his usual self when the match eventually started, dropping back and exposing the galleries and struggling to pick up the speed of Virgona’s faster shots. The new set of balls used for the final didn’t help Chisholm either, with Virgona generating plenty of spin in both directions on the serve and acing Chisholm on multiple occasions. Riviere had to overcompensate, spraying balls high onto the penthouse, and giving Lumley and Virgona easy opportunities to hit winners, especially at the feet of Chisholm. Chisholm and Riviere won just four points in the first set — never reaching a game score of 30. By the time they were 0/5 down, Riviere patted four balls in the net to concede the set and pick receivers for the second, despite Lumley’s attempt to force a hazard chase by hitting a short caterpillar. The whole set was completed in just 13 minutes — the perfect start for the challengers who wore ear-to-ear grins on their faces.

Chisholm faced up against Lumley for the second set. The change worked, with Chisholm’s high serve generating a weak response from Lumley. Chisholm was seeing the ball better too, engaging and beating Virgona in several volley battles. With the balance restored, Riviere eased into the play as well, playing with more control and precision. They took command of the match, holding a slight advantage over their opponents and holding an effective conversion rate on game points. Virgona and Lumley took too long to adapt to the reinvigorated play of their opponents, falling a little flat themselves as they tried to figure out the next solution to the puzzle presented to them. Facing down chase 3 at set point, Virgona also opted to pat the ball away and concede the set.

Lumley took on Riviere’s serve for the third set — the same configuration as the first — as they looked to recreate some of the magic that they had had in the first set. But the defending champions had other ideas. By now, they were both seeing the ball well, keeping the rallies short and finding winners easily. They were ahead in the set early, with Riviere dancing around the second gallery line and picking off double-handed volleys with ease. They built a three-game lead, but Virgona and Lumley were starting to find the right balance of play themselves, getting closer and closer to breaking through as the set wore on even with Chisholm and Riviere picking off targets out of nowhere. Playing chase the line on set point, Virgona played a drop shot, with Riviere charging the net and scooping the ball into the grille, screaming a loud “c’mon” over the net after he hit the shot.

A short break followed, with Lumley continuing to take Riviere’s serve on the resumption. Virgona and Lumley’s defenses were solid, extending out the rallies until they could gain a tactical advantage. Once they did, they were clinical in executing their finishes, often beating Riviere and Chisholm on the floor or into one of the open galleries. The third game of the set was pivotal, with Riviere and Chisholm missing several chances to grab a foothold in the set. Virgona took the game instead, playing a forehand volley into the winning gallery. While trying to force their way through Virgona and Lumley, Riviere and Chisholm once again started to spray balls onto the penthouses. Lumley barely let a ball past him, playing the anchor role well as Virgona went on the attack. Again, Lumley and Virgona were 5/0 up in the set but stuck at the service end, with Chisholm ignoring Virgona’s serves to try and secure the choice of receivers for the start of the next day. The last ball of the day saw the peculiar sight of Riviere standing at hazard 2 in order to fend off any ball hit deep into the hazards — despite him not being the designated receiver.

The match will conclude on Sunday with both sides needing to find an additional three sets in what has effectively become a best-of-5 set contest. The 2-all scoreline after the first day is a repeat of the previous edition in Chicago, which was fought between the same two pairs. On that occasion, Chisholm and Riviere came out stronger on the second day, winning three unanswered sets.

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Match results:

• Robert Fahey & Nick Howell (3) lost to John Lumley & Steve Virgona (2) 1-5

  • Day 1: 4/6 3/6 3/6 0/6

  • Day 2: 6/3 5/6

• Camden Riviere & Tim Chisholm (1) def Ben Taylor-Matthews & Bryn Sayers (4) 5-1

  • Day 1: 6/2 6/2 5/6 6/3

  • Day 2: 6/5 6/1

• Camden Riviere & Tim Chisholm (1) level with John Lumley & Steve Virgona (2) 2-2

  • Day 1: 0/6 6/2 6/2 0/6

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John Lumley and Steve Virgona entered the second day of their match needing just the single set to ensure progression, while Rob Fahey and Nick Howell faced the daunting task of needing to find five sets on the bounce. After Lumley and Virgona won the first game of the day and had two game points for the second, the sense among the crowd was that the proceedings would be rather brief. So when Howell served a railroad nick to win the second game, they roared into life, urging their favoured pair to push on. They duly obliged, with Fahey and Howell playing more positively than on the first day and looking to hit hard at the targets. Fahey was also having success with his high serve, landing a good length and getting them into the rallies quickly. Virgona and Lumley managed to float and slide the ball into the dedans in response: the pace of the respective pair’s final balls couldn’t have been more different. Fahey and Howell earned themselves a slight advantage in the set, much to the enjoyment of the crowd, who registered plenty of applause for every point they won. The best applause came after Fahey struck a cut-volley into the winning gallery — one of four in the set having not hit any on the first day. They maintained their edge throughout, winning the set with a grille off the racket of Howell, and joining together for a high-five.

Virgona switched to receiving Fahey’s serve for the sixth set, having been receiving from Howell for the fifth. Fahey and Howell still had the initiative, pulling out to a three-game lead and with the prospect of a fairytale starting to enter the back of the minds of the onlookers. Fahey’s ability to find the gallery even despite how high Virgona was playing helped them along that path. For Virgona and Lumley, they needed to regroup and return to the dominating strokeplay they had struck so well the previous day. They were within half a yard of facing down a four-game deficit, but slowly clawed their way back into the contest, with Fahey and Howell unable to convert their game points. The rallies were long, and the games tight, with the set stretching over an hour — the longest of the tournament. Virgona and Lumley wrestled back the initiative, cancelling out the deficit to find themselves level on games.

A few beats later, and the players reached a deciding game, with Lumley and Virgona on serve. Virgona struck a hazard gallery, then Howell opted to leave a ball for a hazard on the floor — despite being 30-15 up and already due a change of ends. Virgona then hit the ball out of court to set up set point to Fahey and Howell. Virgona tickled Fahey’s next railroad as tight as possible to the battery wall, with Fahey unable to get more than a frame on it. Still on set point, Howell put a ball into hazard second. Now at deuce, Fahey couldn’t put away several balls off the back penthouse, with Virgona slipping a winner down the forehand side instead. With match point to Virgona and Lumley, Howell put the next ball into the net to seal his and Fahey’s fate; Virgona and Lumley move on to the final for the third straight edition.

In the other semi-final, Camden Riviere and Tim Chisholm led Bryn Sayer and Ben Taylor-Matthews 3-1 after the first day of play. The defending champions needed two further sets to ensure their progression to the final after having dropped the third set on Wednesday — a fact that hadn’t sat well with them overnight. They came out looking to take points quickly, uninterested in playing out long rallies. But Sayers and Taylor-Matthews had other ideas, being defensively solid and avoiding errors at all costs. They picked off the galleries well — from both ends of the court. They also kept their unforced errors as low as possible while Riviere and Chisholm were more erratic — yet often effective. Neither pair broke more than a game’s advantage throughout the set, culminating in a final, deciding game.

Two unforced errors from Sayers opened the final game, before Taylor-Matthews threaded a ball through the perfect angle to chase a yard that saw both Riviere and Chisholm look at each other assuming the other would take it. Sayers, repeated the same trick — this time hitting the dedans. Sayers’s next shot hit the top of the net tape, sat for a moment before deciding to fall back on his side of the net to groans from the crowd. After the change of ends, the Brits saved both set points to bring it back to deuce. Sayers’s next shot at the winning gallery was long, giving Riviere the chance to lay another chase. Taylor-Matthews’s backhand at the winning gallery was on target, as they marched down to the hazard end with a set point in their pocket, rallying the crowd behind them as they did. Facing down set point, Riviere found himself defending a tight ball off the back penthouse, which he boasted onto the battery wall and into the grille. Taylor-Matthews could only clap his racket in appreciation in response. Riviere took the next two points by peppering the ball at Sayers in the grille, sealing the set and the Brit’s fate in the match.

Riviere and Chisholm were ascendant in the sixth set, while Sayers and Taylor-Matthews’s fight seemed to abandon them. In a flash, they had a big lead in the set, hitting their targets well while Sayers and Taylor-Matthews error count grew. The Brits managed a token game midway through the set, but it was clear to all watching that the Americans weren’t going to let it get away from them. They easily qualified for their eighth career World Doubles Championship final.

The players have a rest day on Friday where they will have an opportunity to refine their plans and tactics for the final, which will take place on Saturday and Sunday in a best-of-9 set format.

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Match results:

• Robert Fahey & Nick Howell (3) lost John Lumley & Steve Virgona (2) 1-5

  • Day 1: 4/6 3/6 3/6 0/6

  • Day 2: 6/3 5/6

• Camden Riviere & Tim Chisholm (1) def Ben Taylor-Matthews & Bryn Sayers (4) 5-1

  • Day 1: 6/2 6/2 5/6 6/3

  • Day 2: 6/5 6/1

Order of play for Saturday:

• 1:30 PM: Camden Riviere & Tim Chisholm (1) vs John Lumley & Steve Virgona (2)