Giddins and Kay to look to recover British Amateur title against Vallat and James
Both pairs win through nervy semi finals ahead of final on Saturday
Four time British Amateur champions Jamie Giddins and Ed Kay are one step closer to recovering their title after a closer than expected semi final at the Queen’s Club on Monday night. Meanwhile, Bertie Vallat and Nick James are through to their maiden Amateur doubles final in a match dominated by the volley.
The first semi final was between the Old Cantabridgians Ed Kay and Jamie Giddins against Charlies Defries and Oliver Taylor. Defries and Taylor had comfortably defeated Philip Dunn and Tom Seymour-Mead in the quarter finals on Sunday. Kay and Giddins were reunited after Kay’s absence in 2024 left Giddins partnering Robert Shenkman, leading to an unexpected loss to eventual winners James Medlow and Max Trueman.
Kay looked rusty at times, his match preparation, having not played outside the Bathurst Cup and Pol Roger Trophies in the past year. He threw in some wild forces at the members bar window at Queen’s, albiet to an empty audience as that room is closed for redecorating. Nevertheless, as soon as the ball entered a rallying situation, Kay and Giddins were on top immediately. Defries and Taylor overcooked their return of serve at times, trying to counter the scoreboard pressure. Kay’s aggression and Giddins’s consistencey were more than enough to see them through the first set comfortably.
By the second set, Kay’s radar seemed to disappear as Defries and Taylor were able to hold their defenses solid and wait for an erratic shot. Doing so let them build a 3-1 lead in the set, before a series of spiked volleys from Giddins levelled it up at 3-all. The pairs exchanged games on the back of some outstanding net volleys from Taylor. Defries and Taylor found themselves with three set points at 5-4. Giddins and Kay returned to the service end and picked off the set points one by one. Defries and Taylor had another set point in the 5-all game with a hazard chase, but after Giddins drove down the middle, Kay was ready to mop up the loose return into the galleries. Giddins and Kay won their first set point, sending the ball behind Defries off the tambour.
The third set was neck and neck, as Defries and Taylor kept building small leads in the games that Giddins and Kay had to chase down. Defries was fired up for the challenge, with big “c’mon” shouts at a few key games. At one point, Kay hit a ball at the winning gallery, which he had been targeting all evening, only for the ball to rattle off the ledges and fly back to his own side of the net, losing the point. Ultimately, Kay’s forcing came good, backed up by Giddins’s quick reaction net play. Defries and Taylor had points to reach 5-all but couldn’t convert, with the four-time moving on to another final.
In the second semi final, Bertie Vallat resumed his partnership with Nick James from the British Open. They faced opposition in the form of Tom Bomford and Richard Elmitt. Elmitt found weakness immediately with Vallat’s defensive volley, picking up several games off the force even if they weren’t going into the dedans. James’s volleying was masterful, engaging in some lengthy exchanges at the galleries against Elmitt at the tambour. Vallat and James dominated the service end; it took until the eighth game before Elmitt and Bomford won a point from the service end. However they were having enough success targeting Vallat from the hazard end that they could rack up enough games to make the set look competitive.
James slowly built confidence in his play over the course of the match, playing with more freedom and finding angles more often seen on a rackets court. There were plenty of long rallies but in general Vallat and James were eventually able to craft winners. The final set raced by with Vallat and James dominating more and more of the play, finishing the match with a bagel
Match results:
Saturday 10:00 am: Charlie Defries & Oliver Taylor def Philip Dunn & Tom Seymour-Mead 6/1 6/0 6/2
Sunday 10:30 am: Richard Elmitt def Harry Eddis 6/2 6/2 ret
Sunday 12:30 pm: Charlie Defries def Tom Bomford 6/4 5/6 6/4 6/2
Sunday 2:30 pm: Nick James def Philip Dunn 2/6 6/2 6/2 6/4
Monday 6pm: Jamie Giddins & Ed Kay (1) def Charlie Defries & Oliver Taylor 6/1 6/5 6/5
Monday 7:30pm: Bertie Vallat & Nick James (2) def Richard Elmitt & Tom Bomford 6/3 6/2 6/0
Order of play for Tuesday & Wednesday (all times GMT):
Tuesday 6pm: Robert Shenkman (1) vs Charlie Braham
Tuesday 7:30pm: Benedict Yorston (4) vs Charlie Defries
Wednesday 6pm: Jamie Giddins (3) vs Nick James
Wednesday 7:30pm: Bertie Vallat (2) vs Richard Elmitt