The Eastern Open main draw began in earnest on Thursday, with both courts at Cambridge in non-stop action as the eight seeds progressed through the first round of one of the strongest fields assembled for a non-ranking event in the UK in over a decade.
The tournament began on the Green court between the neo-pro from the Royal Tennis Court, Rhys Williams — one of three Australians in the draw — and the Ladies World Champion Claire Fahey. It was a match that thrilled the purists, with both players seeking to hit length over pace. Williams took a 3/1 lead in the first set, narrowly winning two long deuce games in the process. The fifth game was also a long deuce game, but this time it was Fahey who came out on top. Two things then clicked for Fahey. First, she found a better length on her return of serve, putting fewer balls into the net as a result. Second, she found her railroad — not a serve for which she is usually renowned — getting it to hug the battery wall and causing Williams to have to play out from a difficult area, often into the net. She won the remaining games in the set comfortably, before building an early lead in the second. Williams pulled back a couple of games as Fahey’s railroad started to drift long. She tried some other serving variations, which caused enough disruption to Williams’s rhythm to push her over the line, winning in straight sets.
Offset by half an hour, the first match on the Blue court was between fellow Oratory pro Henry Henman and the Petworth pro Thomas Durack. Henman was on a mission, winning the first seven points of the match and keen not to give Durack any chance of a look-in. He was dominant at the service end, losing just a single point in the first set from that end. He dug in well, staying largely error free as he dove across to retrieve balls onto his backhand. From the hazard end, he was the aggressor, launching balls at the dedans with great success. Henman lost just the one game in the match — a blip of errors on the return of serve — but was otherwise untouchable.
There are few feats that Rob Fahey has not previously completed in real tennis, of which one is registering a match on Cambridge’s Green Court, until today. His opponent was the Queen’s Club pro, James Medlow. Fahey was unbothered through the opening stages of the match, picking off his shots with ease as Medlow did little to trouble the former World Champion. Fahey went 5/0 up before relaxing off, making a few errors and giving Medlow the chance to win a couple of games. Fahey was unbothered, peeling off dedans and winning galleries with ease as he finished the set and made progress into the second. Again, he went 5/0 up in the second before overshooting for the dedans, giving Medlow a chance to clean up another two games. However, from deuce in the 5/2 game, Medlow struck back-to-back double faults, throwing his head back in frustration as Fahey walked away the winner.
Meanwhile on the Blue court, the local professional and qualifier Mark Hobbs challenged the fifth seed amateur from Tasmania, Oliver Pridmore. Knowing that his opponent was younger and faster, Hobbs attacked the return of serve as hard as he could. But Pridmore was quick enough to cover most of Hobbs’s misses, turning them into the grille instead. Though Pridmore took the first three games, Hobbs wasn’t going to leave the home crowd with nothing to cheer for. After winning a long rally in the fourth game, Hobbs’s celebration got the crowd fired up. He blasted a few dedans to win the next two games, waving his finger in the air after each one. Pridmore was unfazed, carrying on with his business of preventing chases and hitting grilles — seven in total in the first set. Hobbs’s target hitting lost its radar, putting more on the penthouse for Pridmore to sweep up. Pridmore swept up the remaining games in the first set, taking his foot off the gas for the start of the second. Hobbs tried to maintain the crowd’s energy, but Pridmore gave him little to work with. Hobbs threw in a few trick shots to keep them entertained towards the end, but Pridmore finished strongly, wrapping up the match and securing his place in the quarter-finals.
Back on the Green court, Vaughan Hamilton locked horns with Will Flynn. Hamilton was easily able to deal with the pace that Flynn was bringing, covering both the dedans and the court with ease. Flynn didn’t look like he had many options from the receiving end other than to hit flat and straight, and from the service end he struggled playing out of the forehand corner. Hamilton, by contrast, rarely made an error, and excelled at turning defence into attack with every stroke he made. His coverage of the service end was impressive, using the court to its maximum advantage. Despite Flynn’s efforts, and being able to engage in good, pressuring rallies, it was clearly not his day. Flynn was unable to convert any points into games as Hamilton breezed into the quarter-finals.
While the Flynn and Hamilton match was wrapping up, Prested’s Levi Gale took on the Royal Tennis Court’s Jack Josephs over on the Blue court. Gale had a stranglehold on the service end. He was untroubled by Josephs’s returns of serve, easily moving across and slapping them at the grille and tambour. The bounciness of the court made it difficult for Josephs to find winners: Gale had the volley defence covered while his speed into the corners gave him enough time on the ball to recover any situation. Josephs only won the single game in the first set, and so looked to be more attacking in the second. He increased the pace on the ball and figured out how to sustain a rally on a court that plays substantially differntly from Hampton Court. As a result, he was toe-to-toe with Gale across the first six games, including having points for a 4/2 lead, but Gale’s determination kept him in the fight, lifting his level and battling back a couple of games. By the end, he was as dominant as he had been in the first set, wrapping up the last four games to secure his quarter-final against Pridmore.
The Green court wrapped up with a match between the qualifier Nick Jamieson and the sixth seed Zak Eadle. Eadle teed off from the hazard end, backing his force over Jamieson’s volley even if it did mean conceding a few high penthouses. From the service end, he tried to turn the ball into the grille as quickly as he could, with the plan working for the first five games as he built a decent lead in the first set. Jamieson threw his arms in the air in celebration when he struck the grille to avoid a bagel, but then went on a bit of a run. He was able to match Eadle in the backhand exchanges that followed over the next few errors, with Eadle often making the first error. Jamieson brought back three games before Eadle could take the set with a series of strong returns of serve. Jamieson continued to frustrate Eadle in the second set, earning himself a 4/2 30-0 lead. Eadle leant on his experience to regain control of the match, winning the last four games to win the match.
The last match of the first round was between Benedict Yorston and Lewis Williams on the Blue court. Yorston’s usual advantage of his foot speed and ability to pick up everything was neutralised by the slow, bouncy court. It meant that he was unable to outlast Williams in the long rallies, as the latter was able to survive just as long. Williams’s heavy cut coupled with strong target hitting helped him build a sizeable lead in the first set. In trying to defend Williams’s target hitting, Yorston contorted himself so low that he ended up starfished on the floor of the court. Though Yorston adapted to the conditions late in the first set, picking up a few late games, Williams was easily able to secure a one-set lead. Williams was strong throughout the second set, keeping the restes short as Yorston was unable to get into his full rallying flow. Williams pushed ahead, dropping only two more games as he claimed victory.
Play continues on Friday with the four quarter-finals, all taking place on the Blue court. The semi-finals will follow on Saturday with the final on Sunday.
Match results:
2:00 PM (Green): Claire Fahey (7) def Rhys Williams 6/3 6/3
2:30 PM (Blue): Henry Henman (8) def Thomas Durack 6/1 6/1
3:30 PM (Green): Robert Fahey (1) def James Medlow 6/2 6/2
4:00 PM (Blue): Mark Hobbs lost to Oliver Pridmore (5) 2/6 2/6
5:00 PM (Green): Will Flynn lost to Vaughan Hamilton (4) 0/6 0/6
5:30 PM (Blue): Levi Gale (4) def Jack Josephs 6/1 6/3
6:30 PM (Green): Nick Jamieson lost to Zak Eadle (6) 3/6 4/6
7:00 PM (Blue): Benedict Yorston lost to Lewis Williams (2) 3/6 2/6
Order of play for Thursday (all times GMT):
2:30 PM: Claire Fahey (7) vs Vaughan Hamilton (4)
4:00 PM: Henry Henman (8) vs Lewis Williams (2)
5:30 PM: Levi Gale (4) vs Oliver Pridmore (5)
7:00 PM: Robert Fahey (1) vs Zak Eadle (6)