Great Britain wins women's Bathurst Cup
GB cement poll position for men's Bathurst Cup with straight-sets doubles victory
Great Britain have won the women’s Bathurst Cup, winning three of four reverse singles matches at Paris on Friday. Meanwhile, their men’s team have put themselves one match win away from victory as well, with a straight-sets victory in the doubles match over the United States on the second day of play in the final.
Going into the four reverse singles matches, the Great Britain team needed to win at least two of four rubbers to secure overall victory, while the Rest of the World team needed to win all four — a 3-1 result would have seen the fixture go to a deciding doubles. The Rest of the World’s best chance for a singles victory fell to their first seed, Saskia Bollerman, in her match against Great Britain’s second seed Georgie Willis. Bollerman had a dream start, trapping Willis at the hazard end and picking off Willis’s returns with ease. Willis never put Bollerman under any pressure, with the Dutchwoman easily stepping across and pressing the ball into the corners. Willis served just three points in the first four games. Once Willis was able to generate chases and spend more time at the service end, the game tightened up, sharing the games evenly, but Bollerman’s head-start was enough for her to win the set. By the second set, Willis had gotten a handle on Bollerman’s serve, with the pair playing out long volley-to-volley rallies until one made an error. Bollerman broke out a small lead, but Willis’s serving brought it back even. Willis had a chance to push ahead, but once Bollerman recovered the serve again, the Dutchwoman was able to regain the upper hand. She pressed through the last three games to reduce the overall deficit to one rubber.
Next, Britain’s first seed Tara Lumley took on the Rest of the World’s second seed, Emma Clyde. Clyde demonstrated that she was able to go toe-to-toe with Lumley in the rallies, but the Brit always seemed to be able to find a release valve —either through skill or fortune — to ease off the pressure in a way that Clyde never could. On multiple occasions Clyde was caught out by the extreme angle off the walls, hitting her legs as she tried to jump out of the way. In the end, Lumley’s steady consistency overcame Clyde’s flashes of brilliance, with the Brit never truly under pressure across the first set. Clyde stepped up in the second, battling with Lumley through eight deuces in the 1/0 game and another six in the 3/1 game, with both eventually being won by Lumley beating short chases. The Australian was constantly one stroke behind Lumley throughout the set but battled hard, extending the second set out to the hour mark before her eventual defeat. Lumley’s win secured the British team a minimum of a deciding doubles match.
Given their position in the match, Great Britain substituted in their reserve player, Alexandra Bryant, for the match against the Rest of the World’s third seed, Jo See Tan. The match was tactical, revolving around the serve and return set-pieces to set up each rally. Tan took the first two games over a nervous Bryant, but the Brit soon settled, backing her own service game. As Bryant pressed on, Tan grew increasingly frustrated in her railroad, which only resulted in her serving it quicker and hitting it harder. The loss of confidence soon boiled over into the rest of her game, giving up the next five games. Tan battled on, but her body language was a stark contrast to the confident and purposeful Bryant.
Bryant took the first set and quickly established a lead in the second. The Rest of the World team tried to spur Tan on, with Bollerman chirping in Tan’s ear through the first gallery netting at every change of ends, trying to get her to lift. She dragged back Bryant’s three-game buffer to 4-all. A series of point-perfect railroads from Bryant stopped Tan’s run, seeing the set into a deciding game. Bryant won the match attacking chase twelve, sending a cut shot down Tan’s forehand side that jagged in off the wall. In doing so, she cemented overall victory for her team, racing to the galleries to celebrate with her teammates.
The final singles was a dead rubber between Britain’s Katherine Carney and the Rest of the World’s Frederika Adam. Carney had a terrible start, with her play often unmotivated and her movement poor. Adam lapped up every easy ball she was given, knowing she could wait out the error from Carney without too much risk. Adam raced to a 5/1 lead, before Carney started to find some fight, pulling back two games before Adam could seal the set with an ace.
In the second set Adam continued to read Carney like a book, positioning herself exactly where Carney intended to hit every shot. Carney tried mixing it up, bringing a bit of heat to the equation. The pair exchanged games throughout the second set, with the Rest of the World squad screaming from the side galleries for every game and point Adam won. They battled all the way to a deciding game, with the pressure clearly showing on both players. Carney was the first to reach set point, winning it with an overhit railroad that jagged awkwardly into Adam’s body off the penthouse. Adam was clearly flustered by the loss of the second set, and it started to affect her play in the third. Carney, meanwhile, was growing in confidence in every stroke. She freed herself from the rigid box she had placed around herself and played with freedom and invention. Carney raced through the final set, finishing off an 8-4 victory for the Great Britain team.
Next followed the doubles match of the third place playoff. Australia substituted in their reserve, Rhys Williams, for Michael Williams (no relation), partnered by Oliver Pridmore. France kept the same set-up as the semi-finals, with Nicolas Victoir partnering Michel Brunoro. It was a high-intensity match from the start, with Pridmore and Williams pounding the ball at the dedans and testing out the reach of Victoir’s wingspan on the volley. Even from the service end, the Australians were on full attack, with Victoir and Brunoro having to weather the storm point after point. Williams was all too happy to take Pridmore’s lead, leaning into the aggressive shots of his own. The French defence and the Australians’ overreach kept the French in the hunt, despite the Australians leading throughout. They got as close as a point for a deciding game, but no closer.
In the second set, the French put Brunoro in on Pridmore’s serve. While the Australians got away a few grilles early, the French were able to turn the initiative, becoming the more attacking players. It put Pridmore on the defensive, which had the consequence of taking Williams out of the game and making him cold — dropping back further and further and getting jammed against the battery wall. This time, the French were able to take the Australians all the way to a deciding game. A couple of tight railroads from Pridmore, followed by persistent attacking of the tambour gave the Australians the edge, finished with a shot into the dedans after a change of ends.
The Australians put Williams back on Brunoro’s serve for the third set. For the first time in the match, they found themselves behind in the set, having to work hard to stay in touch with the French. Victoir and Brunoro went up 5/4, but three consecutive dedans from Pridmore saw the set also go to a deciding game. Brunoro then struck back-to-back dedans himself to put the French ahead again. Changing ends, a tight serve from Brunoro was key in ensuring the French would see a fourth set. The match remained tight, with the French becoming increasingly bold in their volleys at the net, with both players stepping across to intercept shots down the forehand side whenever it was their turn at the front. With no team able to break the deadlock, the French grew more excited and enthusiastic as the prospect of a fifth set loomed. They pulled out a 5/3 lead — the biggest they had held in the match. The Australians won the next game to love, with Victoir having to calm Brunoro down for fear of getting over-excited. The French got their next two chases to recover the service end, the final piece of the puzzle in forcing a fifth set.
From the start of the fifth set, Williams freed up his game, while Pridmore pulled back slightly, focusing on putting the ball in play and spraying less on to the penthouse. The change was enough to give them an edge, extending a four-game lead at the start of the set. With both Australians now contributing their fair share, the French attack was less potent. They saw off the remainder of the set, with their win securing an overall victory in the match, relegating the French to fourth place.
The last match of the day was a crucial piece of the puzzle in determining the new holders of the Bathurst Cup. With the final tied at 1-all, and with the reverse singles to follow — favouring the first seeds of each team — the doubles match-up was the best chance for either team to stake their claim. The Brits once again brought in doubles specialist Will Flynn to partner Robert Shenkman, while the Americans played Freddie Bristowe and Noah Motz again. The match started at ten o’clock, and the forcing barrage from the Americans was immediate. It bought them the first two games as the Brits immediately had to adjust to a defensive footing. But it could not be sustained. Both Brits tightened up their serves to prevent the incoming fire in the first place, before Flynn entered beast mode in his role at the net. From the hazard end, Shenkman was also keen to show that he could match the other three for pace, as the Brits went on a six-game run to take the first set.
In the first game of the second set, with a ball ballooning off the back penthouse, Bristowe shouted to his partner to “go, go, go” up to the galleries as Flynn was lining up to play his shot. Flynn pulled out, and a debate ensued between the players, the marker and the squads in the side galleries about whether a hindrance should be called. In the end, a let was agreed, but the incident led to a change in direction of the match — thereafter the Americans contained the Brits to the hazard end and got the scoreboard ticking in their favour once again. They pressed out a two-game lead but the Brits pulled it back again — again with tight serving and excellent play by Flynn at the net. The set went to a deciding game, with Shenkman serving to Bristowe. Shenkman hit the mark on enough railroads to get the weak response out of Bristowe each time, using it to win the set.
Britain were once again fully in control for the third set. Combined, their defensive skills neutralised the attack brought against them by Bristowe, neither player ever gave away an easy serve and they played into each other’s strengths from both ends. On the American side, Motz was unsure of himself when in volleying position, often leaning on Bristowe to be both attack dog and defenceman. Behind in the set, the Americans brought on one last forcing barrage. Flynn thought he had the game wrapped up on set point with a ball that teasingly came off the opening’s back wall and out to a hazard chase of the line. Despite his disappointment, and despite Bristowe saving a match point with a behind-the-back volley, the end of the match was inevitable — sealed with a Shenkman main wall dedans.
Play concludes on Saturday, with the last four matches of the event. First will be the two dead rubbers from the third-place playoff between Australia, followed by the two reverse singles matches of the final between Great Britain and the United States. Britain needs to win just one match to take the title, while the Americans need victories in both matches.
Match results:
GB Women def ROW Women 8-4:
12:00 PM (2 vs 1 reverse singles): Georgie Willis (GBR) lost to Saskia Bollerman (ROW) 2/6 4/6
1:30 PM (1 vs 2 reverse singles): Tara Lumley (GBR) def Emma Clyde (ROW) 6/1 6/3
3:00 PM (4 vs 3 reverse singles): Alexandra Bryant (GBR) def Jo See Tan (ROW) 6/3 6/5
4:30 PM (3 vs 4 reverse singles): Katherine Carney (GBR) def Frederika Adam (ROW) 3/6 6/5 6/1
Australia Men def France Men 3-0 (two rubbers remaining):
6:00 PM: Oliver Pridmore & Rhys Williams (AUS) def Nicolas Victoir & Michel Brunoro (FRA) 6/4 6/5 5/6 4/6 6/1
GB Men vs USA Men (two rubbers remaining):
8:00 PM: Robert Shenkman & Will Flynn (GBR) vs Freddie Bristowe & Noah Motz (USA) 6/2 6/5
Order of play for Saturday:
11:30 AM (2nd singles): Rhys Williams (AUS) vs Clément Depreeuw (FRA)
1:00 PM (1st singles): Paul Rosedale (AUS) vs Jean-Baptiste Rossi (FRA)
2:30 PM (1 vs 2 reverse singles): Robert Shenkman (GBR) vs Noah Motz (USA)
4:30 PM (2 vs 1 reverse singles): Bertie Vallat (GBR) vs Freddie Bristowe (USA)1
Team GB (L-R): Georgie Willis, Alexandra Bryant, Jess Garside, Tara Lumley, Nicola Doble, Katherine Carney
Line-ups may change if the match is a dead rubber