Taylor-Matthews into Moore Family Office Summer Challenge semi-final with final game victory
Gale bleeds targets against Hamilton blitz
The semi-final line-ups of the Moore Family Office Summer Challenge are set, with two back-and-forth quarter-finals at the Oratory on Friday evening.
The first match of the evening saw home professional Claire Fahey take on Ben Taylor-Matthews, benefitting from a receive 15 handicap. Fahey seized control of the match from the start, finding an excellent length in her cut-volleys and a nagging line into Taylor-Matthews’ forehand corner. Taylor-Matthews was slow to adapt to the court and regularly found himself having to fight upstream against the handicap deficit. Fahey won each of the 40-all game points in the first set as she took the set in less than 20 minutes.
Taylor-Matthews dropped the hammer from 0-5 down in the first set, hitting a series of forces to shake him into gear. He led the second set from the start, cutting Fahey off from her length into the corners. He then relaxed into the set, getting the better of a series of backhand exchanges. She forced her way to a couple of games midway through the set, but Taylor-Matthews was able to find short chases or winning galleries in the key moments to seal up the set.
Both players renewed their play going into the deciding set; Fahey redoubled her effort to hit a good cut-volley for a short chase while Taylor-Matthews tightened up his defences. The set was the closest of the match, with the lead swapping between the players and most of the games ending in deciding points. After letting a 4-2 lead slip, Taylor-Matthews had three set points in the 5-4 game, but a series of perfectly executed cut shots into his forehand helped Fahey save all of them. She couldn’t capitalize in the deciding 5-all game, though, finding the penthouse several times in the game which was enough for Taylor-Matthews to put away the win.
The second match was an all Prested affair between Levi Gale and Vaughan Hamilton. Gale was returning to his former home club, though he had not played on the court since his move to Essex. After the players had knocked up and been introduced to the crowd, Gale suffered a nose-bleed that delayed the start of the match by ten minutes while a plug was sourced. Once play did get underway, it was clear that the match had a very different tempo than one that had preceded it. Both Hamilton and Gale were slapping the ball around as hard as they could, then running as hard as they could to maintain the rally. Hamilton was picking off Gale’s demi-piques at will, slamming them into the dedans. After Gale switched to his railroad, at last Hamilton’s missed forces gave Gale a shot at an open court or the grille, bringing Gale back into contention in the set. Gale had a solitary set point in the 5-4 game, but switched back to his demi-pique, giving Hamilton the opening to set a short chase. Instead, Hamilton won the set in the 5-all game, holding back another barrage of Gale forces.
Hamilton had the upper hand of the play through the second set, controlling the play from the return of serve. Gale cycled through a number of serving options but couldn’t find one he liked as Hamilton was determined to straight force from anywhere, hitting the dedans with great regularity. Hamilton quickly built a lead in the set, then used the scoreboard pressure to press home his advantage.
Play will resume next Thursday with the semi-finals, followed by the best-of-5 set final on Friday.
Match results:
Friday 5:30PM: Claire Fahey (Rec 15) lost to Ben Taylor-Matthews (2) (Love) 6/0 2/6 5/6
Friday 7:00PM: Levi Gale (4) (Owe 1/2 15) lost to Vaughan Hamilton (Love) 5/6 2/6
Upcoming matches:
Thursday 5:30PM (Semi final): Robert Fahey (1) (Owe 1/2 15) vs Darren Long (Rec 15)
Thursday 7:00PM (Semi final): Vaughan Hamilton (Love) vs Ben Taylor-Matthews (2) (Owe 15)
Friday 6:00PM (Final): Winner semi final 1 vs Winner semi final 2