Williams defends Tambour Tour Leamington title against Woods-Casey

Medlow and Eadle fall short in semi finals

Lewis Williams has defended his Tambour Tour Leamington title in a tight three set final against John Woods-Casey on Sunday.

Williams, the home court professional, took to the court in the first semi-final against James Medlow in the morning. The young Medlow was not overawed in playing his higher ranked opponent, playing with positivity and aggression. But Williams was able to absorb the pressure, had a higher quality of shotmaking and able to punish any of Medlow’s mistakes. Williams was particularly devastating getting the ball to cut down in Medlow’s backhand corner, and dominated the play from the service end. Williams moved on to the final with a straight sets victory.

The second semi-final pitted Melbourne’s John Woods-Casey against Zak Eadle. Both players were very aggressive on the return of serve, either rolling in heavy cut-volleys or slapping main-wall dedans. However, for every successful result, there was another couple that were loose. Woods-Casey toned down the aggression first, instead playing the ball to Eadle’s backhand, looking to lay short chases. This tactic proved fruitful, with Woods-Casey spending plenty of time at the service end. Woods-Casey benefit from Eadle’s erratic radar, running through the last four games easily to take the first set.

Woods-Casey was relaxed through the start of the second set, which opened a window for Eadle to get back into the match. Eadle threw himself after the ball, while Woods-Casey couldn’t find the easy winners at times. At 2-4 down, Woods-Casey found a renewed purpose in his shotmaking, increasing the pace of his shots without sacrificing accuracy. He won four of the last five games of the match to book a slot in his first Tambour Tour final.

After a short break, Woods-Casey and Williams lined up for the final. Williams immediately showed his home court knowledge. Through the first set, Williams dominated the service end, able to read the back wall well and prevent Woods-Casey from laying chases. On the occasions he did find himself at the receivers end, Williams blasted his way into the dedans, ball after ball. As such, the first set wrapped up in barely 20 minutes, and it looked as though he would cruise the rest of the match.

Woods-Casey fared better in the second set — he tightened up his serve and moved to more underarm twists rather than railroads. Williams found it harder to get the ball in position to force, while Woods-Casey’s defence was solid. He won the first four games of the set, before Williams rediscovered his form and brought himself back into the match. Against the run of play, Woods-Casey mustered enough time at the servers end to find the last two games he needed to send the tournament into a deciding set.

Williams took an extended break before commencing the third set. It was the tightest set of the tournament, with neither player having a solid run of momentum while both also hitting the ball clean and precise. Each point had to be earned; there were no freebies on offer. The match was hanging in the balance at 4-all in a long deuce exchange before Woods-Casey carved two balls into Williams’s forehand corner and looked to have the game wrapped up. But Williams’s forcing was strong enough to beat the worse than a yard chase before setting one of his own which Woods-Casey could not beat. Williams won the final game to love, finishing with a dedans straight down the middle.

The dates and venue for the final Tambour Tour event are yet to be announced. The players are expected to next return to the court for the FLM Super League in early April.

Match results:

• 10:30 am (Semi-final): James Medlow lost to Lewis Williams 2/6 2/6

• 12:00 noon (Semi-final): John Woods-Casey def Zak Eadle 6/2 6/4

• 2:30 pm (Final): Lewis Williams def John Woods-Casey 6/0 4/6 6/4