Medlow and Flynn romp doubles qualifying at British Open
Fahey and Henman scrape through in thriller
As the temperatures dropped in London the play on court heated up at the doubles qualifying at the 2024 British Open at the Queen’s Club. The day saw back to back rounds of matches, with the winners of the two early fixtures playing the seeded players in the evening. The day saw the continued emergence of young talent in the game, with plenty of rackets based shots, big volleys, fantastic boasting and long rallies. There were also decent and enthusiastic crowds for a qualifying day, who stayed right through to the conclusion of the matches.
History was made in the first match of the day, with Paul Bollerman believed to be the first Dutchman to play at the men’s British Open qualifying, and the first from a non-playing country since James Stout. He is also the third Dutchman overall, with his sister Saskia and mother Lucie having played in the Ladies Opens. He was partnered with Will Burns and the two brought a small but vocal contingent of support waving a large orange blanket each time the pair won the point. Their opponents were the recently crowned Henry Leaf champions James Medlow and Will Flynn. Aside from the first game which saw a long succession of deuces, the younger pair were dominant, playing the ball with control and purpose. Burns was playing up at the net and was snatching at his volleys, will Medlow and especially Flynn able to chase them down with ease. There were moments of excellence with a few nice rallies, especially the one that brought Burns and Bollerman their third and final game. But it was clear that Medlow and Flynn’s experience despite their age was more than enough to carry them through on the big stage as they swept through a straight sets victory.
The next match featured the Old Radleian pair of Benedict Yorston and Ned Batstone against the Queen’s Club’s Bertie Vallat and Nick James. The latter are accomplished at rackets, Vallat a Foster Cup finalist and James a British Open doubles champion, and they brought the characterstic rackets flair to the tennis court. James, playing up at the galleries, was agressive and hard-hitting with his volleys with the ball boasting of all manner of surfaces, while Vallat wasn’t afraid to hit the ball with pace as well. Batstone and Yorston seemed flustered at first with how to cope with the barrage as they conceded the early lead. Yet James’s rackets pedigree did lend to some unusual unforced errors at times which always kept the Old Radleians in the match. The Queen’s Club pair took the first set 6/2 and were working towards a lead in the second set. However, Yorston’s defense improved and was able to neutralise the attack, bringing the match back to 4-all in the second set. James and Vallat managed to recover a bit of form and pushed through and took the final two required games.
Flynn and Medlow continued their dominating play into their match against Craig Greenhalgh and Zak Eadle. Eadle was determined to force every ball that came near him, but many of them were high on the penthouse and the ones which where on target were expertly defended by Flynn. Medlow and Flynn hardly made an error and displayed great skill and reflex as they dropped only eleven points in the first eighteen minute set. The best quality tennis was saved for the second with some fantastic long rallies, but nothing Eadle and Greenhalgh did seemed to trouble the young pair. Flynn was the standout on the court as he was fantastic with any balls in the air. The frustration grew through the match for Eadle, and he received a formal warning for slamming his racket on the floor on the penultimate point. Nothing could detract from Flynn and Medlow, who now progress to the main draw and face Louis Gordon and Robert Shenkman.
“I was hoping to get through because I wasn’t successful in the singles, so very happy to make it through to the doubles,” said Flynn. “I was trying to keep every ball in play and trying not to overcomplicate it. With Zak hitting it so hard, you’ve just got to take the pace off it and make him force the error eventually. [James] is very solid up at the net and we both bring quite a lot of heat, so it’s a good partnership.”
Claire Fahey and Henry Henman lined up in an unconventional formation in their match against Vallat and James, with Fahey moving up to defend the main wall and Henman covering Fahey’s movement and himself moving across patrolling the last gallery line. It was a setup reminiscent of Camden Riviere and Tim Chisholm, though Fahey couldn’t quite execute the strategy. Fahey and Henman built an early lead in the set by hitting through James when he was up at the gallery which caused him to back off compared to his earlier match. James did hit the shot of the day with a clean periscope volley for a winner. Fahey and Henman steadily built a 5/2 lead, following which Vallat slotted a few dedans and started to turn the tables on Fahey and Henman. Vallat’s play caused his opponents to drop back to defend which allowed James to play with more freedom. The pace of play increased and Fahey started to look vulnerable. James and Vallat won four games in a row to take the set without conceding a set point.
Fahey and Henman opted to switch receivers for the second set, with Fahey now serving to James. They broke their drought in the second game of the set, as Henman stepped up and played his role with a little more conviction, moving well across the front of the court. Fahey and Henman won six games without reply as Vallat looked increasingly stuck for ideas. Fahey and Henman were at the hazard end at the end of the set, and opted not to change receivers further. Their momentum was finally broken in the second game of the final set which was a long deuce exchange. James was able to put Fahey under pressure with his forces, as the rallies lengthend and became more chaotic. The next few games were exchanged evenly, with Henman putting a few cruicial points into the top of the net, while James hit a force that bounced back off the bandeau and over the net again. Fahey’s power hitting improved, but James and Vallat were able to keep asking questions of her volley. Fahey and Henman took the 4-all game to love, followed by a great scrambling point by Henman which included a slide, a between the legs shot and a winning volley. “Outrageous, I was expecting him to be on the floor, next thing he’s hit a winning volley, that’s Henry just doing what he does,” said Fahey after the match. The adrenaline set them up well for the game, winning the first of three match points and booking themselves a matchup against Vaughan Hamilton and John Woods-Casey.
“Really pleased to come off on the right side of that one, that’s a mega three sets and some really good doubles out there,” said Fahey. “We were just discussing that anyone else but a top rackets player with his hand-eye and his reactions there at the galleries, sometimes the harder you hit it, it’ll come back twice as fast.”
Play continues on Sunday with action scheduled on both the East and West courts at Queen’s for the first time ever.
Match results:
Will Flynn & James Medlow def Paul Bollerman & Will Burns 6/1 6/2
Nick James & Bertie Vallat def Ned Batstone & Benedict Yorston 6/2 6/4
Zak Eadle & Craig Greenhalgh lost to Will Flynn & James Medlow 2/6 2/6
Claire Fahey & Henry Henman def Nick James & Bertie Vallat 5/6 6/1 6/4
Order of play for Sunday:
(East Court) 11:00 am Bertie Vallat vs Lewis Williams
(West Court) 11:00 am Tony Hollins vs Freddie Bristowe
(East Court) 1:00 pm Claire Fahey vs Neil Mackenzie (Q)
(West Court) 1:00 pm Henry Henman (Q) vs Nino Merola
(East Court) 3:00 pm John Woods-Casey vs Tim Chisholm
(West Court) 3:00 pm Levi Gale vs Zak Eadle (Q)
(East Court) 5:00 pm Darren Long vs Louis Gordon
(West Court) 5:00 pm James Medlow (Q) vs Vaughan Hamilton
Tickets are still available for the main draw matches here: https://tennis-rackets.eventize.co.uk/calendars/tennis
For full match listings see the Tennis and Rackets Association: https://www.tennisandrackets.com/real-tennis/tournaments-fixtures/british-open-singles-and-doubles-championships-2024#overview