Henman receives lifeline from Long in Moore Family Office Spring Challenge first round
Fahey and Gordon secure straight set victories after trailing early
The first round of the Moore Family Office Spring Challenge has continued to deliver a series of unusual matches with dramatic turn-arounds, following the second day of play at the Oratory School on Friday amid challenging on-court conditions, with balls cutting severely and flying at the dedans.
The first round of matches resumed with the Petworth professional Louis Gordon playing the Oxford professional Craig Greenhalgh. Both were lacking in competitive match-play since the British Open earlier in the season, where neither had progressed from qualifying. Gordon’s recurrent shoulder injury looked as though it was going to be a significant hindrance during the early exchanges. He was somewhat coy, playing his volleys with both hands and not keen to run about too much. Greenhalgh was scrapping well, covering both sides of the court and getting plenty back to ask questions of Gordon. Greenhalgh found himself 4/2 up and with an opponent who seemed unwilling to run about and was boasting balls into the net, so it seemed as though it would be an easy result. It wasn’t to be, as Gordon started to unleash his force. Greenhalgh had no response. He could find a serve that could prevent Gordon from either forcing or carving a ball deep into the backhand corner. For the remainder of the set, no rally saw more than three strokes, many just two, until the end, when Gordon ended a four stroke rally with a grille. Gordon continued his run through the second set, barring an injury time-out after he framed a Greenhalgh force into his cheekbone. Gordon kept beating short chases with a force, then kept laying them into the backhand corner as Greenhalgh had no further attacking options. Gordon’s run of ten straight games took him all the way through the second set, securing his progression into the quarter-finals.
The local interest then picked up with the local professional Claire Fahey taking on the other Petworth professional, Tom Durack, who was receiving a handicap. Immediately, the rallies were much longer than the previous match, playing out backhand exchanges despite the severity with which balls were sticking down out of the nick at both ends. Initially, Fahey’s line was poor, giving plenty of balls down the centre of the court for Durack to mop up, but it improved as the match wore on. Also, she was striking an unusually high unforced error count as well. At 2/3 down in the first set, she rallied ahead, stretching out a decisive lead in the set. By the second, everything was flowing smoothly for the women’s World Champion, Her demi-pique serve was causing enough uncertainty to generate a weak response from Durack and was stepping across and playing her backhand well. But at 4/1 up, she stalled out, with Durack recovering from 40-0 or 40-15 down on multiple occasions. He managed to bring the scoreline back to 4-all before Fahey set about on one final push to the finish line. She took the last two games to secure victory and lock in a match with Gordon the following week.
The last of the first round matches saw the second of three local pros, Henry Henman enter the draw, up against the previous edition’s finalist Darren Long. Henman broke an early lead as Long worked his way through a number of unforced errors. But that quickly settled down, honing his railroad and force as his key weapons. Henman was in an ultra-aggresive mindset, thrashing at everything within reach but spraying the ball all over the place. His serve was poor, putting the ball into empty space for Long to put away. Long’s dedans hitting was on target all set, sliding ball after ball into the perspex shield that formed part of the dedans netting. He ran away with the set, leaving Henman searching for answers.
In the third game of the second set, Long moved across to play a ball out of the forehand corner and rolled over his ankle. Hopping away, he took an injury time-out to recuperate. He was able to return to the court and continue, but his movement wasn’t what it had been before. Henman sensed opportunity, pulling back his outlandish forcing and starting to pull Long from side to side. His game improved as a result, turning the tables of the match and building an advantage in the second set. Long battled on, still able to pressure Henman in the set plays of the serve and return, but less so in the rallies. Henman won the second set and pushed on into the third. Long’s condition improved slightly, but by now Henman was fully in the game again. Long’s forcing saw him steal a couple of games from Henman midway through the second, but by now the local pro’s confidence had returned, going on to win the match.
Play resumes next Wednesday and Thursday with the four quarter-finals to play out across two evenings. The top two seeds, Rob Fahey and Bryn Sayers, will also enter the competition at this time. The semi-finals and final will follow the following Thursday and Friday.
Match results:
4:00 PM: Louis Gordon (Love) def Craig Greenhalgh (Love) 6/4 6/0
5:30 PM: Claire Fahey (Love) def Tom Durack (Rec 1/2 15) 6/3 6/4
7:00 PM: Darren Long (Owe 1/4 15) lost to Henry Henman (Love) 6/3 2/6 3/6
Order of play for Wednesday (all times BST):
5:00 PM: Claire Fahey vs Louis Gordon
7:00 PM: Jack Josephs vs Henry Henman