Billings and Owen dominate Rackets World Doubles first leg
Cawston and Hopton unable to breakthrough despite world-class strokeplay
Tom Billings and Richard Owen have put one foot in the door in defending their Rackets World Doubles title with a 4-0 victory in the first leg over challengers Ben Cawston and Will Hopton at the Queen’s Club on Wednesday.
Two years ago in Boston, Ben Cawston has joined with Mike Bailey in challenging the title holders Tom Billings and Richard Owen, coming up short at 6 games to 5 — the challengers having retired when it became apparent they could not mathematically win. Cawston returned for his second challenge, now joined by Chicago professional Will Hopton.
Hopton and Cawston won the toss with Hopton serving from the right, but was immedately hand out. The quality of the rallies was world-class from the outset, with Cawston and Hopton benefiting from some marginal errors from Billings to recover the serve get their first points on the board. It was clear that the Cawston was the dominant partner in the pairing, taking the majority of balls from the front and middle of the court while leaving Hopton to take the forehand. Billings and Owen were more balanced, though Billings had to defend against Cawston’s all-out attack, with Owen moping up in the enforcer role.
After being straight out in his first two hands, Hopton pulled the pair back from a 4/8 deficit to a 9/8 lead. But Billings and Owen were successful in quieting Cawston for a period, with Hopton’s errors, giving the advantage to Billings and Owen. When Billings came to serve to Cawston at 12/9 on the second hand, the tension was eminent. Two shots later, after Hopton put the ball in the tin, Billings let out an almighty roar. They had a game ball two balls later but Cawston managed to have them out. An epic run was on the cards with Cawston and Hopton fighting hard to force a set, but couldn’t get the job done. Owen took the game on the next hand-in with a ball off the glass door at Queen’s.
Owen dominated the start of the second game with five straight points, before having the challengers straight out at the next hand. Cawston was feeling the pressure, pulling off some ridiculous gets but also feeling the world on his shoulders, berating himself loudly once Billings and Owen started their second run of the game. The key to the play was Owen’s consistency, barely missing a ball with Billings playing fantastic attacking rackets from far up the court. Cawston and Hopton could not get any decent runs while hand-in, inching the score forward one point at a time. Cawston was becoming increasingly animated, with big “c’mons” every time he earned a hand-in. The match stalled out with the score at 11/5 to the defenders, with lots of long rallies resulting in lets or further hand-outs. Finally, Owen stepped into the box and served up a rare ace, building on the momentum to push few the last few points to earn a two-game lead.
Cawston slumped into the corner at the change of game, helped up by Hopton to go and recooperate off-court. Billings and Owen were first to return, with Owen once again serving through four straight points to kick off the third game. And again after Cawson and Hopton were in-and-out, with Owen going back into the box to continue dealing damage. By the time Cawston and Hopton were hand-in for the second time they already faced a 1/9 deficit. Owen was able to reach an even higher tier, playing some unbelievable winners into Cawston’s backhand. Billings played his role of anchor well, with tight serving and able to fend off whatever Cawston and Hopton could muster. Cawston disappeared somewhat as the game wore on, unable to breakthrough past the defending champions. Where Cawston did try and manufacture a winner, it often resulted in a lay-up for Owen to demolish, with the game ending a comprehensive victory for the defenders.
For the first time in the match, Billings was the first hand-in for the fourth game, again pushing their pair to an early 3/0 lead. In another change-up, Cawston was first hand, but again they were straight out on their first hand-in. Cawston was hitting smash after smash that would have easily beat any other player on the planet, but Billings and Owen both batted it off as though it were a training drill. Hopton was struggling to find any leverage through the forehand side, leaving Cawston to try and do the work from the backhand. Hopton was able to make the game interesting with a couple of long hand-in runs against the momentum of play to bring the score back to 9/12, but it was to no avail, with Billings wrapping up the fourth game to the jubliation of the Queen’s Club galleries.
Both pairs will return to Queen’s on Saturday morning for the second leg. Billings and Owen need only win one further game, while Cawston and Hopton must win all four games on offer. Cawston and Hopton also must achieve a greater points aggregate than the defending champions to take the title.
Match results:
First Leg 6:30 PM: Tom Billings & Richard Owen def Ben Cawston & Will Hopton 15/11 15/6 15/1 15/9
L-R: Ben Cawston, Will Hopton, Richard Owen, Tom Billings
