Van Der Zwalmen and Randjbar impress on way to Ladies World Championship doubles final
Fahey and Lumley to defend title for third time as pair
Lea Van Der Zwalmen and Margaux Randjbar have secured a place in the Ladies World Championship Doubles final after an impressive semi final performance in Newport on Thursday. Meanwhile, defending champions Claire Fahey and Tara Lumley recorded a straightforward victory in their semi final to keep their title defence on track.
With the singles finalists now determined, it was time for the doubles action to get underway at the Ladies World Championships. The draw was limited to the top four entered pairs by handicap, a more restricted field than the singles draw. The only pair unchanged from the last edition were the defending champions Claire Fahey and Tara Lumley. The remainder of the pairs were all new match-ups, not seen before in any competitions.
Fahey and Lumley’s semi final opponents were Jo See Tan and Jess Garside. Both pairs had a dedicated gallery player in Lumley and Garside respectively. Tan and Garside served first and, much to their own astonishment, won the first game as Fahey and Lumley hit four early balls into the net. Their lead didn’t last long as the defending champions settled down to business. Once they recovered the serve, they were not prepared to let it go easily. In an attempt to keep the ball away from Fahey, Tan and Garside were peppering shots at Lumley, but her double-handed volley rarely missed. On the rare two occasions where Fahey and Lumley found themselves at the hazard end, Fahey was firing bullets onto Tan’s left-handed backhand, followed by two express shots at the dedans to close out the first set that left Tan diving for cover.
Tan and Garside found themselves 40-0 up in the first game of the second set as well, with a long chase to attack but this time Fahey and Lumley were not going to concede. Having recovered the serve, they were once again on a roll, finding the tambour with ease and winning 13 out of the next 14 points. Tan and Garside were not playing poorly, but were instead outclassed by a higher claibre of opponent who were not making mistakes. Fahey and Lumley wrapped up the second set in barely 14 minutes, securing their place in the final.
The second semi final was between two further new pairings. Nicola Doble and Saskia Bollerman played Lea Van Der Zwalmen and Margaux Randjbar. Bollerman and Van Der Zwalmen had been finalists together in 2023 — with Bollerman also a finalist in 2017 and 2022, while Doble was attempting to reach her first World Championship Final and Randjbar was playing her first doubles match recorded on RealTennisOnline.
From the start, the play in the odd games had a very different dynamic to the even games. Van Der Zwalmen, serving to Bollerman in the odd games, was hitting the ball hard and accurate on the return of serve and keeping her own serves very tight, making easy work of the play. In the even games, with Randjbar serving to Doble, Bollerman was able to get on top of Randjbar’s returns, sending a difficult shot back into the forehand corner. But Doble and Bollerman were less successful in targeting Randjbar from the receiver’s end, with Randjbar’s high press and clean volley proving a tough wall to crack and with Van Der Zwalmen patrolling the back threatening to take control of the rally at the first opportunity. Chases were therefore at a huge tactical premium.
Van Der Zwalmen and Randjbar won the tactical battle in the fourth game, earning enough of the service end to win the break — akin to lawn tennis — with the Frenchwomen taking the game to deuce while holding the service end. Bollerman and Doble had a chance to break back in the next game but Bollerman’s attempted volley to keep a lob out of the dedans only succeeded in taking out one of the broadcast cameras; her pleas for a let being struck down by the marker. Towards the latter end of the set, Bollerman was less able to pick out Randjbar, with the French team going on a decent run to 5-1. Bollerman and Doble managed to pick up one more game before losing the set on a series of volley errors.
The beginning of the first set was a long hard game, with Bollerman and Doble leading early before conceding a chase and allowing Van Der Zwalmen and Randjbar back in. Eventually, Bollerman and Doble recovered the serve, putting them ahead. By now, Randjbar was pushing up well past second gallery, representing a constant target but often an impenetrable one. The Frenchwomen won five straight games to retake the lead, refusing to give away chases. Late counterplay from Bollerman and Doble could not prevent Van Der Zwalmen and Randjbar from finding the final game and locking in a France vs England final for both singles and doubles
The final of the doubles draw will take place on Saturday, with three of the four players returning from the last edition and with Randjbar making her debut. In the meantime, Friday will see the singles final between Fahey and Van Der Zwalmen for the third cycle running, this time to be played as a best-of-5 set match.
Match results:
Thursday 29 May:
2:00 PM (Doubles Semi Final 1): Claire Fahey & Tara Lumley def Jo See Tan & Jess Garside 6/1 6/0
3:30 PM (Doubles Semi Final 2): Nicola Doble & Saskia Bollerman lost to Lea Van Der Zwalmen & Margaux Randjbar 2/6 3/6
Upcoming Matches (all times EDT):
Friday 30 May:
5:00 PM (World Championship Challenge): Claire Fahey vs Lea Van Der Zwalmen
Saturday 31 May:
2:00 PM (World Doubles Championship Final): Claire Fahey & Tara Lumley vs Lea Van Der Zwalmen & Margaux Randjbar