Pridmore and Vallat into British U26's Invitational Final

Yorston out at semis after saving match points in quarters

Australia’s Oliver Pridmore will battle Britain’s Bertie Vallat for the British U26 Invitational title — the singles event that serves as a precursor to the Van Alen, George Limb and Clothier team competitions — with the early rounds coming to a conclusion at Seacourt over Friday and Saturday.

In the top half of the draw, first seed Oliver Pridmore kicked off the tournament with a very quick victory over Theo Besnard, before running into fellow Hobartian Sammy Legg in the quarter-finals. Legg, having received a bye through the first round, played a spirited match despite the large difference in ranking between the two players. He took the game to Pridmore, having a strong spell in the middle of the match where he was able to match Pridmore point for point. Legg engaged Pridmore in several long rallies, and was able to draw several errors from his opponent. But from 2-all in the second set, Pridmore lifted his quality, quickly shutting down any illusions of an upset with his quick feet and devastating forcing.

Oliver Pridmore

Will Flynn, also receiving a bye in the first round, was the second strongest player in the top half. He was challenged by Nick Stenning, who, throughout his first round match against Elliott Watkins, was proving an occupational hazard to marker Andrew Lyons. Flynn’s lack of recent match practice showed early, serving three double faults in the first set alone. But Flynn played himself into form, hitting with heavy cut into Stenning’s left-handed forehand corner to great effect. Stenning was up for the battle, fighting for every point and making few errors, making Flynn have to hit winner after winner. The Brit was more than capable of obliging, blasting his way to a semi-final matchup against Pridmore, much to the delight of the Seacourt faithful.

The pick of the early matches was the quarter-final between Ned Batstone and Benedict Yorston, both from Radley. They had both come through Hobartian ex-pats in the first round in Alex Rackham and Darcy Webster-Jones respectively. Batstone was excellent at pressing Yorston into the corners, sending him scrambling after the ball. Yorston struggled to find any effective counter-play beyond wearing down his opponent. The frustration threatened to boil over, with Yorston receiving a warning for throwing his racket midway through the second set.

Benedict Yorston

The shot of the tournament came for Yorston at 4-5 40-0. Running backwards while tracking a ball that had missed the dedans high, Yorston tripped over, falling onto his back. Despite the fall, he maintained his awareness to pat the ball over his shoulder and over the net. He recovered his footing and continued the rally, eventually winning it and sending the set to a deciding game. The 5-all game saw six deuces, with Yorston seeing 5 set points and Batstone seeing 3 match points, including one that missed the grille by barely an inch. Yorston eventually extracted a short chase, enough to win the set.

The third set was a Sisyphean battle between two titans, both refusing to believe any point was over until at least half a dozen winners had been hit. The long rallies coupled with several long deuce battles kept all eyes at Seacourt fixated squarely on the saga playing out in front of them. Batstone held an early 3-0 lead, but Yorston’s sheer refusal to give in helped him back into the match inch by excruciating inch. Although he never dominated the play, Yorston was able to string together a series of narrow games to reach the finish line first after over two hours of play.

Florent Brethon

The semi-finals were rounded out by second seed Bertie Vallat, who recorded comfortable wins over the Frenchmen Xavier Thouzeau and Florent Brethon. Brethon had earlier impressed in his first round match against World Junior Champion Max Warner, recovering from a sluggish start in a battle of the left-handers. He was no match for Vallat, whose accurate forcing and careful placement saw Vallat move on to the semi-finals.

Will Flynn

The galleries at Seacourt packed out to see the crowd favourites Will Flynn and Oliver Pridmore do battle in the first semi-final. The first set passed with Pridmore well on top of the game, wafting calmly around the court as he controlled the rallies with ease. His nonchalant demeanour hid a ferocious competitiveness throughout the set and it looked as though a spot in the final was a formality. But come the second set, Flynn awoke like a lion from a slumber, dialling up the pace of the rally with devastating effect, sending Pridmore sliding into the corners to try and keep the ball alive. He demonstrated his vast experience playing on the Seacourt court winning the second set 6/3. But Pridmore was not done. He took command of the match again going into the last set as Flynn faded. Flynn couldn’t quite hit the right areas which gave Pridmore the opening he needed. The Australian blitzed the final set, hitting targets at will, never giving Flynn an opportunity to respond.

Bertie Vallat

The day concluded with the second semi-final between Bertie Vallat and Benedict Yorston. The match began as a classic floor game with both players trying to carve the ball into the corners, ignoring the dedans as a target. They were content to exchange games until, at one point, Vallat lined up for a cross court shot at the grille. Yorston decided that the best way to defend would be to charge the net, putting his racket in the air at the last moment. The following volley was just as impressive, and Yorston eventually went on to win the rally and a narrow lead. Vallat battled back to 5-all, going on to win the deciding game to love. Yorston started to tire in the second set, while Vallat was ascendant, wearing down Yorston in each rally until he eventually made an error.

The final will take place on Sunday, followed by the first of the team competitions. Sunday will see the debut of a French team in under 26 team tennis where they will take on a Rest of the World team assembled from the reserve players from the established teams.

Match results:

• Round of 16:

  • Friday 10:00 AM: Oliver Pridmore (1) def Theo Besnard 6/0 6/0

  • Friday 11:30 AM: Nick Stenning (6) def Elliott Watkins 6/2 6/0

  • Friday 1:00 PM: Ned Batstone (5) def Alex Rackham 6/2 6/3

  • Friday 2:30 PM: Benedict Yorston (4) def Darcy Webster-Jones 6/0 6/1

  • Friday 4:00 PM: Florent Brethon def Max Warner 6/5 6/1

  • Friday 5:30 PM: Xavier Thouzeau lost to Bertie Vallat (2) 1/6 0/6

• Quarter-finals:

  • Saturday 10:00 AM: Oliver Pridmore (1) def Sammy Legg 6/2 6/2

  • Saturday 11:30 AM: Will Flynn (3) def Nick Stenning (6) 6/2 6/2

  • Saturday 1:00 PM: Ned Batstone (5) lost Benendict Yorston (4) 6/3 5/6 4/6

  • Saturday 2:30 PM: Florent Brethon lost to Bertie Vallat (2) 0/6

• Semi-finals:

  • Saturday 4:00 PM: Oliver Pridmore (1) def Will Flynn (3) 6/2 3/6 6/0

  • Saturday 5:30 PM: Benedict Yorston (4) Bertie Vallat (2) 5/6 2/6

Order of play for Sunday (all times BST):

• British U26’s Invitational:

  • Sunday 10:00 AM (Final): Oliver Pridmore (1) vs Bertie Vallat (2)

• France vs Rest of the World (all matches to follow on):

  • 1st singles: Florent Brethon (FRA) vs Max Warner (ROW/UK)

  • 2nd singles: Elliott Watkins (FRA) vs Sammy Legg (ROW/AUS)

  • 3rd singles: Xavier Thouzeau (FRA) vs Ben Dickinson (ROW/USA)

  • 4th singles: Theo Besnard (FRA) vs Dawson Chisholm (ROW/USA)

Remaining matches:

• 7-8 July: Limb Trophy (Australia vs UK)

• 9-10 July: Clothier Cup (USA vs Australia)

• 11-12 July: Van Alen Cup (UK vs USA)