Australia scrape lead over USA at the Clothier Cup
Deciding game victory for Stenning crucial to Australia's hopes
Australia’s quest to secure a maiden youth team victory since the introduction of the triangular team format is in good shape after the first day of the Clothier Cup, helped by a nervy deciding game victory for 2nd seed Nick Stenning.
The Clothier Cup — played between Australia and the United States — was the second of the week’s youth team tournaments to kick off, beginning with the 4th singles match between Australia’s Alex Rackham and America’s Dawson Chisholm. Rackham was able to control the match, serving a tight railroad and earning a ball off the back penthouse in response which he was killing well. The Australian was calmer in demeanour than earlier matches in the week, exhibiting a greater control of the ball when he wasn’t under as much pressure. Chisholm won a pair of games at the start of the second set after he was able to find a couple of targets, but Rackham quickly shut him out of the rest of the match.
The second match was the 3rd singles between Australia’s Darcy Webster-Jones and America’s Tarquin Sotir. Webster-Jones had the stronger start, quickly reaching a 3-0 lead. Then Sotir threw caution to the wind, going for positive, attacking shots and pulling them off more often than not, while Webster-Jones fell into a lull of patting back straightforward balls with little work on them. Sotir was able to put them away easily, winning six straight games to take the first set.
Sotir’s gunpowder started to run dry at the start of the second set, as he found himself unable to make progress. Webster-Jones’s consistency proved to be an asset as he worked his way back into the match, benefiting from regular errors from Sotir. The Australian won the second set comfortably, finding plenty of success with the grille, threatening to carry on through the third. But Sotir had other ideas, rediscovering his shots — especially into the corners. Webster-Jones had to fight to stay in the third set, but Sotir won a tight game at 2-1 to go break ahead and did not look back. He won the match to tie up the overall fixture.
The 2nd singles was a tussle between Australia’s Nick Stenning and America’s Spencer Yager. The match was a battle of big, booming forehands as Yager slammed the ball at the dedans time after time, testing out Stenning’s left-handed backhand volley. The strength of Yager’s return of serve meant Stenning couldn’t find an attacking shot. The first half of the set was evenly shared but Yager was ascendant through the last three games.
Stenning was able to find better angles in the second set, finally able to exert some pressure back on Yager. The sting started to come out of Yager’s forces, with Stenning getting the better of the floor play. Unlike the previous set, Stenning got the break at 3-all and carried the confidence through to winning the set. He looked to be cruising through the start of the third set, before Yager started to fight back once again. The score cycled through 3-all, 4-all and 5-all in the final set and the tension rose higher and higher. Both were getting better fortune from the service end, so the battle over chases became key, with both players seeking the galleries more and more. Late on, Stenning hit a between-the-legs shot at a key moment, putting his hand to his ear to spur on the Australian support. Stenning won the serve early in the 5-all game, which was enough to bring him to match point, but it would be a couple of changes of ends before the Australian could finally cross the line.
The final match of the day was the 1st singles between Australia’s Oliver Pridmore and America’s Ben Dickinson. Dickinson made Pridmore work harder than he had expected, not afraid to take on the shots when offered and make Pridmore scamper and slide around the court. When Pridmore scooped back a difficult ball, Dickinson was ready to attack again. But Pridmore’s skill was sufficient to never let the games slip away, despite dropping a couple early in each set. Pridmore won the match with a ball falling flush with the back wall, which he muscled into a boast that landed on top of the net tape, rolling along the top before dropping onto the hazard side to beat a chase.
Pridmore’s win ensured that Australia took a lead in the match into the second day. Play will continue with the four doubles fixtures, with a deciding doubles if required.
Update 10 July: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Australia had not previously won a youth team event. This is only true since the introduction of the triangular format in 2015, they have previously won bilateral matches for the Clothier Cup.
Match results:
Clothier Cup — USA trails Australia 1-3:
10:00 AM (4th singles): Dawson Chisholm (USA) lost to Alex Rackham (AUS) 0/6 2/6
11:30 AM (3rd singles): Tarquin Sotir (USA) def Darcy Webster-Jones (AUS) 6/3 2/6 6/3
1:00 PM (2nd singles): Spencer Yager (USA) lost to Nick Stenning (AUS) 6/3 3/6 5/6
2:30 PM (1st singles): Ben Dickinson (USA) vs Oliver Pridmore (AUS) 2/6 1/6
Order of play for Thursday (all times BST):
Clothier Cup (GB vs Australia)
10:00 AM (1 & 2 doubles): Ben Dickinson & Spencer Yager (USA) vs Oliver Pridmore & Nick Stenning (AUS)
11:30 AM (3 & 4 doubles): Tarquin Sotir & Dawson Chisholm (USA) vs Darcy Webster-Jones & Alex Rackham (AUS)
1:00 PM (1 & 3 doubles): Ben Dickinson & Tarquin Sotir (USA) vs Oliver Pridmore & Darcy Webster-Jones (AUS)
2:30 PM (2 & 4 doubles): Spencer Yager & Dawson Chisholm (USA) vs Nick Stenning & Alex Rackham (AUS)
4:00 PM (Deciding doubles (if required)): Spencer Yager & Tarquin Sotir (USA) vs Nick Stenning & Darcy Webster-Jones (AUS)
All matches:
7-8 July: Limb Trophy (GB def Australia 5-3)
9-10 July: Clothier Cup (USA trails Australia 1-3)
11-12 July: Van Alen Cup (GB vs USA)
Go Aussies! Thanks for the engaging write up Ben