Camden Riviere and John Lumley have once again shown themselves to be a league ahead of the rest of the field, scoring straight-sets wins in their respective semi-finals of the IRTPA Players’ Championship at Aiken on Saturday.
The first semi-final was between the two home favourites: Camden Riviere, one of four World Champions who got their start in tennis at the club, and Nick Howell, now their head professional. Howell won the first two games as Riviere, as in the quarter-finals, had trouble controlling his shots early in the match, especially on the railroad return. But Riviere quickly adapted. His own read of Howell’s return of serve was impressive, neutralising one of his opppnent’s biggest strengths. Riviere won the next four games, before being pinned back again by Howell’s railroad, this time mixed in with a few side-walls and demi-piques. Howell evened up the score at 4-all, keeping the points quick and preventing Riviere from getting into his free-flowing retrieval game. Riviere leant into his openings game, knowing that if he missed he would still pull Howell out of position to cover it, allowing the retrieving game to start again. Riviere won the last two games to seal the first set.
Riviere established his regular fully flowing style by the second set. Howell’s main source of counter-play was hitting hard and low down Riviere’s left-handed backhand side to try and cause an early error. Riviere neutralised that threat too by serving wide, slow bobbles that Howell had trouble getting a full swing at. Riviere pushed ahead to a 5/2 lead. Howell put up one last stand of resistance, increasing his openings count in the process across the final two games, but could not prevent Riviere’s progression to the final.
The second semi-final was between Ben Taylor-Matthews and John Lumley. The match immediately established a tempo of long rallies, with Taylor-Matthews’s consistency being tested against Lumley’s retrieval. Though in isolation they were equally matched, Lumley had a lock on the service end and the natural advantage that it gives. Even when Taylor-Matthews did lay a chase, he couldn’t hold the serve for long with Lumley refusing to let any ball go unplayed. Lumley raced from 1-all to 5/1 before Taylor-Matthews pulled one back with his longest serving stint of the set. Lumley was unfazed, winning the set in the following game with a grille.
Taylor-Matthews was more expansive in the second set, hitting harder and flatter, ensuring that his misses would still result in chases, albeit long ones that were difficult to defend. Still, Lumley rarely saw a ball he thought he couldn’t chase down, waiting out the rally patiently until the opportunity arose to hit a winner. Lumley took four games before a frustrated Taylor-Matthews could register one, winning it with back to back dedans. The play evened up from there, with Taylor-Matthews playing some of his best tennis of the match, but he couldn’t reverse the early deficit. Lumley won the match with a force at the middle of the dedans, setting up a rematch of the French Open final against Riviere.
The tournament concludes on Sunday with the final, which will be played as a best-of-five-set match.
Match results:
3:30 PM: Camden Riviere (1) def Nick Howell (3) 6/4 6/3
5:15 PM: John Lumley (2) def Ben Taylor-Matthews (4) 6/2 6/3
Order of play for Sunday (all times EDT):
12:00 PM: Camden Riviere (1) vs John Lumley (2)