Defending champion Flynn overcomes second set lull to progress to Seacourt Silver Racquet quarter-final

Henman solid in victory over Long

The Seacourt Silver Racquet — the UK’s premier handicap singles tournament for professionals and top amateurs — has kicked off with twelve qualifying matches and two main draw matches taking place over Wednesday and Thursday.

The qualifying matches were played off level — albeit without deuces. Hatfield professional James Law secured his first main draw appearance at the event after twelve attempts with a comfortable win over Jesmond Dene’s Alex Dyter before a nervy deciding game finish against Giles Gunning, where Law had been up 5/2 in the final set. Also progressing to the main draw for the first time was Oxford professional and recent Category B champion Nick Jamieson, who defeated both Archie Campbell and Jez Brodie in straight sets. Completing the qualifying draw were Silver Racquet stalwarts and Hayling Island locals Adam Player and Tom Weaver.

The first of the main draw matches pitted two-time defending champion and local favourite Will Flynn against the head professional from Petworth, Tom Durack. Flynn was moving effortlessly around the court and plucking balls out of the air with ease. However, Flynn perhaps was taking things a little too easily, keeping Durack interested with a series of unforced errors as Flynn found more frame than string. Durack was insistent on attacking the galleries. He made the most of his time at the service end, serving short underarm twists and tucking Flynn up. Durack pushed Flynn to 3-all in the first set, but Flynn’s ability to strike the dedans from anywhere helped him push on to an advantage. It took five set points for Flynn to wrap up the set, undone by a series of lackadaisical shots, but he had a sufficient buffer such that the result was not in doubt.

Will Flynn

Durack took advantage of Flynn’s waning concentration going into the second set. Durack tightened up his game significantly, executing his shots well and hitting some decent winners past Flynn. Flynn’s unforced errors continued, and he dropped into a pattern of patting easy balls back for Durack, ceding the initative. It took Durack five set points of his own — all in the same game — to secure the set, letting out a shout as the final ball struck the net.

Flynn recovered into the third set while Durack’s hot streak ran out. The shift was subtle, but a marginal improvement in shot quality was enough for Flynn to crack Durack’s defence. Flynn’s charge to the finish line was eagerly cheered on shot by shot by a highligh engaged local crowd. Flynn ran away with the final set, spurred on with some excellent grille-hitting, and claimed his place in Saturday’s quarter-finals.

The only other main draw match of the evening was between the Oratory’s Henry Henman and Moreton Morrell’s Darren Long. Henman was out to play his shots, hunting for winners wherever possible. Long was not interested in Henman’s antics, quietly going about playing his own compact game. Henman’s speed proved the difference between the two in the first set, covering the service end well and preventing Long from finding chases. Henman served twice as often as Long in the set, and was aided by the handicap at his back to push through a number of close games. Henman took the first set with a shot at the dedans down the middle of the court.

Henry Henman

By the second set, Henman was becoming bolder in his shot-making, taking time out of Long’s game and maintaining an unrelenting pressure from the service end. Henman’s success at winning the deciding points of the 40-all games helped translate his advantage in the rallies into advantage on the scoreboard. When Long did find himself at the service end, Henman subjected his forehand to a thorough interrogation through hitting good line and length. Henman’s first match point was an epic — playing off chase the line in a rally that saw Henman retrieve from all four corners of the court. But he took the match with his second; while playing off a hazard chase, Henman clipped a ball over the net tape, causing an error from Long, who subsequently chucked his racket at the back wall in frustration.

Play continues on Friday with the remaining six first round matches, with the quarter-finals set for Saturday.

Match results:

• Qualifying:

  • Wednesday:

    • 9:00 AM: Giles Gunning def Seth Kashdan 6/1 6/2

    • 10:30 AM: Algernon Nottingham def Henry Stuttaford 6/0 6/4

    • 12:00 PM: Nick Jamieson def Archie Campbell 6/5 6/4

    • 1:30 PM: Jez Brodie def Nigel Pendrigh 6/4 6/4

    • 3:00 PM: James Law def Alex Dyter 6/1 6/1

    • 4:30 PM: Martin Rogers lost to William Carbutt-Todd 6/5 3/6 5/6

    • 6:00 PM: Archie Watson lost to Adam Player 1/6 1/6

    • 7:30 PM: Tom Weaver def Josh King 6/2 6/3

  • Thursday:

    • 9:00 AM: Nick Jamieson def Jez Brodie 6/4 6/4

    • 10:30 AM: James Law def Giles Gunning 6/3 4/6 6/5

    • 12:00 PM: Tom Weaver def Algernon Nottingham 6/2 6/0

    • 1:30 PM: William Carbutt-Todd lost to Adam Player 4/6 0/6

• Main draw:

  • Thursday:

    • 5:00 PM: Tom Durack (Love) lost to Will Flynn (Owe 1/2 15) 4/6 6/2 1/6

    • 6:30 PM: Henry Henamn (Rec 1/2 15) def Darren Long (Love) 6/4 6/3

Order of play for Friday (all times GMT):

• 9:00 AM: Luke Danby vs James Law (Q)

• 10:30 AM: Jack Josephs vs Nick Jamieson (Q)

• 12:00 PM: Levi Gale vs Tom Weaver (Q)

• 1:30 PM: Zak Eadle vs Benedict Yorston

• 3:00 PM: Craig Greenhalgh vs Vaughan Hamilton

• 4:30 PM: Claire Fahey vs Adam Player (Q)