Henry Henman has won the inaugural Eastern Open with a dominant display in the final against Vaughan Hamilton in Cambridge on Sunday, registering his third upset of the week in the process.
Supporters from both Prested and the Oratory travelled to Cambridge to support their professionals in the final. Being nearby, a sizeable contingent from Essex had travelled in to support Vaughan Hamilton, while Henry Henman was not without Oratory fans in the dedans either. Both had defeated higher seeds in the tournament: Hamilton saved two match points to beat Robert Fahey while Henman had registered upset wins over Lewis Williams and Levi Gale.
Henman got off to a flying start. He was finding good angles with his boasting and covering the court well. His read of the back wall was exceptional, getting strings to just about every ball. Hamilton had several balls die out of the nick with the length Henman was hitting. Whenever the pair engaged in a backhand rally, Hamilton found it hard to put the ball into the tambour or grille, meaning Henman was able to command the exchange. But the best part of his game was his cut-volley, getting it to curl and die into the forehand corner, reliably giving him strokes or short chases. Hamilton tried to force his way out of trouble, hitting hard and flat at the dedans, but Henman’s volley was up to the task. Henman won the first set without dropping a game, conceding just 11 points.
Henman continued his run into the second set, holding an advantage from both ends of the court. His backhand play at the service end impressed, not giving Hamilton anything to work with. Hamilton won the third game of the second set with a pair of dedans, taking the applause from the crowd who understood he had come up against an unstoppable force. Henman pushed on, reaching a 4/1 lead before finally making a few errors as the finish line approached. Hamilton brought back a couple of games as a result, helped by his straight forcing picking off Henry’s volley. He had an opportunity to level the set at 4-all, but Henman found a main wall dedans from underneath the winning gallery to halt Hamilton’s progress. The ninth game saw five deuces without Henman having a match point. Hamilton had a chance to take it to 5-all in the following game as well, but Henman found a good angle on his boast to send it to deuce instead. Hamilton had to attack two chases to stay alive. The first he lost as his force hit the bandeau, giving Henman championship point, but the next shot was on target. Back to deuce, Hamilton’s next shot at the dedans went high and out of court, giving a second championship point to Henman. Henman converted this time, hitting a main wall-tambour to win the match and take the title.
The win marks Henman’s first senior tournament title, capping off a scarcely believable run through the draw. Both players will next be in action at the British Open, with Henman still having to progress through a qualifying draw, while Hamilton awaits the winner of a qualifier in his first round.
Match results:
1:30 PM: Vaughan Hamilton (3) vs Henry Henman (8) 0/6 4/6