Oldham and Bryant storm through to British Open doubles main draw
Garside and Campione come up short in Sunday's only qualification match
Qualifying in the Women’s British Open concluded at Holyport on Sunday with the doubles qualification event. Injuries and withdrawals meant only one match was needed: between the Royal Tennis Court’s Araminta “Minty” Oldham and Queen’s Club’s Alexandra Bryant, going up against the Royal Tennis Court’s Elvira Campione and Seacourt’s Alex Garside.
The first set began as a tight affair, with several games going to deuce. However, Oldham and Bryant seemed to always find the extra edge at the crucial points. Bryant’s serving against Alex Garside was proving particularly efficient, with a few returns of serve blasting straight into the winning gallery. Despite the match being fairly even, Oldham and Bryant moved to a 4/0 lead. The lack of appreciation from the scoreboard to Garside and Campione’s efforts was starting to show, spilling over into frustration from the pair. Oldham’s volleying was performing particularly well, reeling off several volleys in a row to keep the pressure back on Campione and Garside at the hazard end. Oldham and Bryant got a slice of luck from their play as well; with a particularly high penthouse ball landing flush against the grille wall for Garside to attempt a back wall boast, to no avail. Bryant and Oldham had a few nerves at 5/0, wasting their first couple of chances to take the set. That said, they rounded out the set 6/0 in a little over half an hour.
Garside and Campione opted to switch receivers at the start of the second set, in the hope switching the play would yield a better result. The second set began in a similarly tight fashion, with Oldham continuing her impressive volleying display from the hazard end. But some miscommunications among both pairs began to come to the fore — particularly at the service end where net players were over-optimistically taking balls that were very much intended for the player at the back. But still, the scoreboard would not give Campione and Garside any attention. Oldham and Bryant took the first two games of the set, after which play began to accelerate more quickly in their favour. They rounded out the second set in a little over 20 minutes, with the same scoreline as the first.
Oldham and Bryant progress to the main draw in the doubles: they will face second seeds Jess Garside and Georgie Willis on Friday in the semi-finals at Queen’s.
Match results:
Holyport:
1:00 PM: Alexandra Bryant & Minty Oldham def Elvira Campione & Alex Garside 6/0 6/0