Returning champions to vie for Jesmond Dene Cup title
Taylor-Matthews, Sayers and Shenkman looking for second crown
The main draw of the Jesmond Dene Cup got underway with the unique distinction of the number of former champions outnumbering the rest of the field by more than two to one. Robert Shenkman, Nigel Pendrigh and Alex Dyter all won the event when it was an amateur-only competition, with Ben Taylor-Matthews and Bryn Sayers winning it since the event opened to professionals. Saturday saw the quarter final matches played, with Dyter and Pendrigh having won through qualifying mid-week.
The first match was between the current and previous holders of the MCC Gold Racquet, albeit with 30 years between them. Current amateur champion Robert Shenkman took on veteran amateur Nigel Pendrigh, who had battled through the qualifying draw. Over the course of the first set, Shenkman learned and adjusted to the bounce of the court, grasping the intricacies and reducing the number of errors towards zero.
Pendrigh tried to keep the ball tight against the backhand side wall, but Shenkman was equal to the task, daring Pendrigh to get one more ball back each reste. Pendrigh played with his usual eccentric flair, his best shot being a no-look grille early in the first set. The left-hander played the ball late and often behind him, with the vast expanses of the Jesmond court not working in his favour. Shenkman won through the match in just over half an hour, dropping just four points in the second set.
The second match saw local champion Alex Dyter take on the previous edition’s finalist Vaughan Hamilton. Hamilton showed from the start why he performs well at Jesmond, reading the backhand corner well and picking off Dyter’s forces with calm and compact volleying. The Prested professional relaxed further into the match, never looking under pressure as he executed his shots exceptionally well. The home crowd willed Dyter on to win a game in each set, but Hamilton progressed through largely untroubled.
The last quarter final was between local favourite Zak Eadle and Bryn Sayers, the latter in his second tournament back after surgery. Sayers served predominately high serves, trying to utilize the high ceiling space available at Jesmond but was frequently flirting with the out of court line. Sayers exhibited great control in his play throughout, making Eadle dive into the corners to try and stay in the rallies. Eadle struggled to find effective counterplay, opting for the hail mary strategy of rapid forcing. He finally was able to draw a couple of errors from Sayers, but it was too little too late as Sayers marched on to the semi-final.
The semi-finals and final will both be played on Sunday, with all matches streamed live on T&RA Media.
Match results:
Thursday 4:00 PM (Qualifying Round 1): Rrichard MacAlister def Richard Oliver 6/1 2/6 6/4
Thursday 5:30 PM (Qualifying Round 1): Simon Long def Tom Biddulph 6/0 6/2
Friday 11:00 AM (Qualifying Round 2): Alex Dyter def Richard MacAlister 6/2 6/0
Friday 12:30 PM (Qualifying Round 2): Nigel Pendrigh def Simon Long 6/0 6/2
Saturday 12:30 PM (Quarter Final): Robert Shenkman def Nigel Pendrigh 6/0 6/0
Saturday 2:00 PM (Quarter Final): Vaughan Hamilton def Alex Dyter 6/1 6/1
Saturday 3:30 PM (Quarter Final): Zak Eadle lost to Bryn Sayers 0/6 1/6
Order of play for Sunday
10:00 AM (Semi Final 1): Ben Taylor-Matthews vs Vaughan Hamilton
11:30 AM (Semi Final 2): Robert Shenkman vs Bryn Sayers
3:00 PM (Final): Winner Semi-Final 1 vs Winner Semi-Final 2