Taylor-Matthews secures third seed in World Race; Fahey retires from British Open
Howell drops first set to Shenkman but recovers strong; Riviere fires up after crowd snub
It was a historic day of quarter final action at the British Open with impacts that may reverberate through the years. Most notably was the World Race, the two year cycle of events to determine the right to challenge for the Real Tennis World Championship. Meanwhile, a retirement to Rob Fahey may truly signal the end of a generation in real tennis, two years after his formal retirement from singles play.
Going into the British Open, the identity of the top four players in the World Race eligible for the eliminators was assured, barring a very contrived and unlikely series of match results. The element of doubt is the seedings, as the first round eliminators are played as 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3. At the start of the tournament, Steve Virgona lead Ben Taylor-Matthews by 880 points, less than the point differential between any two stages in the tournament. Virgona needed to finish either at a later or equal stage of the draw than Taylor-Matthews to secure the third seed and a matchup against Nick Howell, while any other result would see him against World number 2, John Lumley.
On a very cold, frigid day at Queen’s, Robert Shenkman was off to a hot start against number 2 seed Nick Howell. He was quick to adapt his regular game plan mixing up his customary floor game with a few good shots floated at the targets. Howell, meanwhile, couldn’t seem to find his targets, hardly hitting a grille or a dedans through the set. Shenkman was calm and composed, neutralising Howell’s weapons and expanding his own game. Although Howell had a small resergence from 0/4 down to 3/4, Shenkman held on, benefiting from a series of errors from Howell. Howell was much better in the second set, finding the grille on the first ball of the set. Howell took an injury time out in the second game having sustained a cut on the forearm while changing ends. After the break, Howell resumed much more assured, cutting down the number of errors and killing Shenkman’s attack. The set featured exactly the type of tennis that favoured Howell, punishing Shenkman’s loose serving with devastaging effect. The set ended quickly 6/0 to Howell. The third was much like the second, as Shenkman searched to find a serve but never found a decent length. Howell looked every bit that his status as world number three suggested. Shenkman never seemed to have a winning shot or a good out to a rally. Howell moped up the fourth set easily as Shenkman never really found another gear.
Ben Taylor-Matthews chomped through Nino Merola like a shark hunting prey. The world number 4 had all the answers for Merola’s varied serves and played the rallies with pinpoint accuracy. Taylor-Mattehws was dominant from the service end, beating Merola around the tambour and deep into his forehand. Merola scored just seven points in the first set and twelve in the second, lasting just quarter and a third of an hour respectively. Merola found some resistance late in the third set as he opened up his shots and slotted a few targets but the match had already gone.
Robert Fahey started his match against Leon Smart strongly, taking on Smart’s high serve and moving smartly and effortlessly into position to play the ball, dominating the service end for much of the first set. Despite a brief recovery from Smart at 5/1 down the result was not in doubt.
Then, at 3/1 up in the second set, Fahey lined up to receive yet another high serve from Smart. The ball ran flush with the back wall, and Fahey backpedaled in order to get a good width on it. As he did so, his calf popped, immediately going down on his haunches, then hobbling off the court for an injury time out. He spent a few minutes receiving treatment in the side gallery before shaking hands and conceding the match.
It was the 54th time Camden Riviere and Steve Virgona had stepped onto a singles court together. The two left-handers both had their eccentric styles on full display, as Riviere found early success with his shots on the dedans. Both players were serving short railroads and drags in an effort to get their opponent volleying instead of turning inside. Riviere had a 4/0 lead, which Virgona slowly started to turn around through some powerful volleys and incessant play into Riviere’s backhand. Although Riviere won the last two games, it wasn’t convincing as both players seemed evenly matched towards the end of the set.
By the second set, Virgona was on a roll, hitting winners against Riviere that nobody else seemed to be able to find all season. Virgona had built a 4/2 lead when he was attacking a chase better than 3. Riviere dug two balls out of his backhand corner, the second of which went in the grille. Riviere, impressed with his shot was not impressed by the crowd’s silence, tapping his racket on the bandeau several times admonishing the crowd. It lit a fire inside Riviere, who has a long history of adversarial crowds in Britain. From that moment on, Riviere was a different player, winning 10 games without response, as every ball seemed to come off his racket with extra kick. Most notably, Virgona smashed a ball with rapid pace down towards Riviere’s feet, which hit his racket and rebounded straight in the grille. Riviere bageled the last set, sealing Virgona’s fate in the tournament and in the World Race.
Match Results:
12:00 pm Robert Shenkman (7) lost to Nick Howell (2) 6/3 0/6 1/6 1/6
2:00 pm Nino Merola lost to Ben Taylor-Matthews 0/6 1/6 2/6
4:00 pm Robert Fahey (4) lost to Leon Smart (6) 6/3 3/2 ret.
6:00 pm Camden Riviere (1) def Steve Virgona (5) 6/4 6/4 6/0
Order of Play for Thursday:
12:00 pm Robert Shenkman (7) vs Nick Howell (2)
2:00 pm Nino Merola vs Ben Taylor-Matthews (3)
4:00 pm Robert Fahey (4) vs Leon Smart (6)
6:00 pm Camden Riviere (1) vs Steve Virgona (5)
Tickets are still available for the main draw matches here: https://tennis-rackets.eventize.co.uk/calendars/tennis
For full match listings see the Tennis and Rackets Association: https://www.tennisandrackets.com/real-tennis/tournaments-fixtures/british-open-singles-and-doubles-championships-2024#overview