Shenkman and Vallat through to British Amateur final
Amateur Singles final to not feature a Cambridge alumni for first time in 13 years
For just the second time time since 2007, and the first since 2012, the real tennis British Amateur final will not be contested by an alumni of the Cambridge University Real Tennis Club, with Manchester’s Robert Shenkman and Queen’s Club’s Bertie Vallat winning through their semi finals at Queen’s on Thursday and Friday. The two will play a repeat of last November’s MCC Gold Racquet final, which was won by Shenkman without dropping a game.
Defending champion Robert Shenkman took to the court in the first semi final against Benedict Yorston on Thursday evening. Shenkman took a while to find his rhythm, hitting his forehands high on the tambour making it easy for Yorston to run everything down. Yorston built a 4-2 lead in the first set. Shenkman was able to improve his shot quality to get back in the set with both players making heavy use of the galleries. Yorston beat a couple of short chases to go 5-4 up in the set, then found himself with three set points in the 5-all game on the back of some poor shots from Shenkman. He would only need one as Shenkman’s next shot went high out of court off the penthouse, emblematic of how the set had played out.
Shenkman was much improved in the second set, dominating the serve and rolling in grille after grille. He found a great length on his railroad too, getting several to die in the back wall nick. From 2-all in the second set, Shenkman went on a 7 game streak, winning the set in the process.
The second semi final took place on Friday evening between MCC Silver Racquet holder Bertie Vallat and two-time British Amateur finalist Jamie Giddins. Vallat played largely without error through the first set, getting the better of the backhand rallies and having plenty of success with his down the line forces. Giddins’s main source of points came when getting Vallat to second-guess himself around the tambour.
Giddins moved away from his railroad at the start of the second set, opting instead for a series of demi-piques, side walls and drags. Vallat was happy to play into the slower serve, ripping in cut-volleys to Giddins’s forehand. His strokeplay was exemplary throughout the set. By the third set, Vallat let the pressure of slightly, with the score remaining neck and neck throughout. Despite that, by the time the set came to the eleventh game Vallat was not going to let his opportunity slip, cutting the ball to better than 2 to lay a chase for match point. He moves on to his first British Amateur final.
Shenkman and Vallat will play off for the title on Sunday afternoon. Before that, Vallat and Giddins are set to take to the court against each other again in Saturday’s doubles final.
Match results:
Thursday 6:30 pm: Robert Shenkman (1) def Benedict Yorston (4) 5/6 6/2 6/3 6/1
Friday 6:30 pm: Bertie Vallat (2) def Jamie Giddins (3) 6/2 6/2 6/5
Order of play for the weekend finals (all times GMT):
Saturday 2:30 pm: Jamie Giddins & Ed Kay (1) vs Bertie Vallat & Nick James (2)
Sunday: 2:30 pm: Robert Shenkman (1) vs Bertie Vallat (2)