Eadle exacts revenge on Hamilton in Moore Family Office Spring Challenge first round
Josephs survives first set ignominy to defeat Mackenzie
The three-week long Moore Family Office Spring Challenge has kicked off at the Oratory School, with the first round of matches taking place on Thursday evening. It marked the second running of the event, with the top 14 professionals in the UK invited to compete for a £20k prize pot, with matches played off half-handicaps.
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.
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