Petti and Edmond save championship point on way to Billy Ross Skinner title
Britain's premier mixed doubles competition showcases depth of women's game
Cambridge’s Ulla Petti teamed up with the Royal Tennis Court’s Simon Edmond to blast through the Billy Ross Skinner mixed doubles tournament over the weekend, only to have to save a championship point against Katie Leppard and Henry Stuttaford in the final.
The Billy Ross Skinner is the premier mixed doubles competition in real tennis, now in its 42nd edition, played each year at the Hatfield House Real Tennis Club. It features 16 pairs vying for the title. The top 16 amateur women are invited to play, alongside 16 men selected from the club membership and tournament regulars to be at a similar handicap standard to the women. The pairs are then selected in a high to low draw, with the highest ranked woman paired with the lowest ranked man.
“It’s the only competition off level where we play best of 3 mixed doubles, full stop. Nobody plays with each other twice [year to year], which makes it very interesting,” said tournament co-director Paul Bollerman.
“[Mixed doubles] is a lot closer to regular doubles than in a lot of other racket sports. The difference between having a strong lady and a weaker man and the other way around are much smaller, so the difference aren’t that big. There are obviously some pacing changes, and it’s interesting to see people play around with that, either up the pace or lower the pace.”
“Traditionally, you would see female players up at the net volleying, but as we see in this tournament, a lot of women are playing at the back, there’s been a lot of variety, everyone can volley so it’s a much more even playing field than you might expect,” said the other tournament co-director, Clare Bucknell, “In the early days of the tournament the men would battle it out and the women would hide but that’s not the case this year.”
Play began on Friday morning with the first of the group matches. The Billy Ross Skinner features a unique group structure, where the matches are a series of knockout matches with up to one repechage before reaching the quarter finals. Matches are played best of three sets, with no deuces and three all in the final set.
Ulla Petti and Simon Edmond quickly established themselves as a pair to beat, dropping just six games across their first two matches and progressing as the group winners. The last match of the group was the most tense, played between Claire Bucknell and Martin Richards against Sophie Dannreuther and Geoffrey Russell. Both had comfortably delt with Chris Lintott and Alex Garside, but were easily beat by Petti and Edmond. The first set was back and forth, with Dannreuther and Russell building a 3-0 lead and having a deciding point for 4-0, until a ball from Russell slapped the top of the net tape and rolled a foot along before deciding to fall back on his side. Bucknell and Richards took the advantage, winning through the next five games straight before Dannruether and Russell could mount a comeback. The set went to a deciding point won by Dannreuther with some well dug out volleys on her toes. The remainder of the match was back and forth, with neither pair building advantage until the deciding game of the second set, won by Richard’s power hitting came to the fore, beating Dannreuther’s volley to take the set. By the final set, the momentum was all with Bucknell and Richards, winning the three required games to progress.
The stand-out of the second Friday group was the combination of Izzy Marshall and Osckar Knötschke. The pair was well balanced, with both players picking balls out of the air with ease as both were happy pushing forward at the net. The repechage battles in the group were very tightly fought, with Elvira Campione and Steve Brewerton beating through the Prested pair of Amy Pye and Dan Worboys in the penultimate match 6/5 in the third set. However, they went on to play Katie Leppard and Henry Stuttaford in the final repechage match, which was won by Leppard and Stuttaford in a deciding point in the second set — despite Leppard having to take a short break after smacking her racquet against her toe attempting a half-volley.
The group stages continued on Saturday. The first group featured the top seeded woman, Tara Lumley, playing with Tom McNeilis. They won through the group relatively comfortably, maintaining a lead through both of their matches from the start. In their first match, they beat Alexander Bryant and Hugo van der Meer, sending them into the repechage bracket. Bryant and van der Meer were a dynamic partnership, with the Dutchman embracing the full chaos of real tennis doubles. They fought their way back through to the quarter finals, defeating the partnerships of Nicola Doble and Clive Turner, and Monty Oldham and Richard Ramjane along the way.
The final group saw battle between the number two woman Saskia Bollerman, partnered with Ben Geytenbeek, against Izzy Green and Faustus Vilimas. Bollerman and Geytenbeek were cruising in the first set but fell asleep in the second. Green and Vilimas took full advantage, the latter effortlessly switching hands to play forehands on both sides. Green and Vilimas cruised through their next match against Eve Shenkman and Joe Thompson, while Bollerman and Geytenbeek battled through the repechage against Rachel Hillingdon and Nick Jones.
The knockout stages began on Sunday. Petti and Edmond continued steamrolling their opposition through their first quarter final, barring a spirited resistance towards the end by Bryant and van der Meer, requiring six match points to get the job done. Next on, Bollerman and Geytenbeek neutralised the volleying threat of Marshall and Knötschke, the Dutchwoman striking the ball with plenty of power and precision.
The bottom half of the draw saw Lumley and McNeilis pitted against Bucknell and Richards. The match was a battle of styles, with Lumley’s precise floor game juxtaposed against Richards’ hard hitting forcing. Richards and Bucknell got the fast start, which they were able to defend through to the end. The final quarter final saw Green and Vilimas playing Leppard and Stuttaford. Leppard and Stuttaford used the tambour to great effect throughout, dominating the serve and catching their opponents off guard.
Petti and Edmond stormed through the first semi final against Bollerman and Geytenbeek. Petti’s aggressive volleys and Edmond’s accurate power hitting were too strong, as Bollerman and Geytenbeek cycled through tactics trying to find an opening to no avail. The other semi final saw Leppard and Stuttaford dominate Bucknell and Richards, winning points at a ratio over 3 to 1.
Leppard and Stuttaford carried that form into the final against Petti and Edmond. Stuttaford was the first play of the weekend to be able to pin Edmond down, refusing to let him have a chase and dominating the play from the service end. Leppard held her own with her net volleys, her left-handed play keeping the ball out of the galleries on her forehand. They cruised through the first set but began to find some resistance from Petti and Edmond in the second. Leppard and Stuttaford had points for a 5-3 lead in the second set, but Edmond got lucky with a ball hitting the outer edge of the last gallery and rolling out for a yard chase. Petti and Edmond returned to the service end and pressed through the next couple of games. Petti and Edmond were inches away from the set on two occasions, with one ball on chase 2 sliding into the dedans, and another at chase the line that refused to roll over the net cord. The set went to a deciding point, which was won by Petti and Edmond on a Stuttaford volley error. Starting at 3-all in the final set, the momentum was now firmly with Petti and Edmond as they fought their way to victory.
Match results:
Round of 32:
Ulla Petti & Simon Edmond def Clare Bucknell & Martin Richards 6/1 6/1
Sophie Dannruether & Geoffery Russell def Alex Garside & Chris Lintott 6/3 6/4
Amy Pye & Dan Worboys lost to Izzy Marshall & Oskar Knötschke 4/6 4/6
Elvira Campione & Steve Brewerton lost to Katie Leppard & Henry Stuttaford 5/6 4/6
Nicola Doble & Clive Turner lost to Araminta Oldham & Richard Ramjane 3/6 4/6
Alexandra Bryant & Hugo van der Meer lost to Tara Lumley & Tom McNeilis 4/6 3/6
Eve Shenkman & Joe Thompson def Rachel Hollington & Nick Jones 6/3 5/6 6/5
Izzy Green & Faustus Vilimas def Saskia Bollerman & Ben Geytenbeek 2/6 6/0 6/4
Round of 32 (repechage):
Nicola Doble & Clive Turner lost to Alexandra Bryant & Hugo van der Meer 2/6 1/6
Rachel Hollington & Nick Jones lost to Saskia Bollerman & Ben Geytenbeek 6/1 6/3
Clare Bucknell & Martin Richards def Alex Garside & Chris Lintott 6/0 6/4
Amy Pye & Dan Worboys lost to Elvira Campione & Steve Brewerton 4/6 6/2 5/6
Round of 16:
Ulla Petti & Simon Edmond def Sophie Dannreuther & Geoffrey Russell 6/1 6/3
Izzy Marshall & Oskar Knötschke def Katie Leppard & Henry Stuttaford 6/2 6/2
Araminta Oldham & Richard Ramjane lost to Tara Lumley & Tom McNeilis 2/6 4/6
Eve Shenkman & Joe Thompson lost to Izzy Green & Faustus Vilimas 2/6 5/6
Round of 16 (repechage):
Alexandra Bryant & Hugo van der Meer def Araminta Oldham & Richard Ramjane 6/4 6/2
Saskia Bollerman & Ben Geytenbeek def Eve Shenkman & Joe Thompson 6/1 6/3
Clare Bucknell & Martin Richards def Sophie Dannreuther & Geoffrey Russell 5/6 6/5 6/3
Elvira Campione & Steve Brewerton lost to Katie Leppard & Henry Stuttafrod 2/6 5/6
Quarter finals:
Ulla Petti & Simon Edmond def Alexandra Bryant & Hugo van der Meer 6/2 6/4
Izzy Marshall & Oskar Knötschke lost to Saskia Bollerman & Ben Geytenbeek 4/6 3/6
Tara Lumley & Tom McNeilis lost to Clare Bucknell & Martin Richards 2/6 4/6
Izzy Green & Faustus Vilimas lost to Katie Leppard & Henry Stuttaford 1/6 2/6
Semi finals:
Ulla Petti & Simon Edmond def Saskia Bollerman & Ben Geytenbeek 6/2 6/2
Clare Bucknell & Martin Richards lost to Katie Leppard & Henry Stuttaford 0/6 0/6
Final:
Ulla Petti & Simon Edmond def Katie Leppard & Henry Stuttaford 2/6 6/5 6/3