World Doubles Championship contenders begin final tune-up at US Open
Smart loses final Open match as a real tennis pro in four
Three of the four pairs that will contest the World Doubles Championships in April have begun their campaign for the US Open, each securing straight-sets wins in their quarter-finals at the Racquet Club of Chicago on Sunday. Meanwhile, Nick Howell — whose World Doubles partner Rob Fahey is absent from the event — instead teamed up with Josh Dodgson in a four-set win over Robert Shenkman and Leon Smart, the latter of whom will be hanging up the real tennis rackets in the coming weeks.
The first of the doubles quarter-finals saw the entry into the tournament of the defending champions, Camden Riviere and Tim Chisholm. Their opponents were the young, dynamic duo of Henry Henman and Max Trueman. Henman and Trueman knew they had nothing to lose, so went out looking to play their shots, knowing that they weren’t going to win by out-rallying the World Champions. Riviere and Chisholm set up with Chisholm at the back, freeing Riviere to dance across the front and kill any balls that were overhit at the dedans. For the most part, Chisholm was able to withstand the barrage that Henman and Trueman were sending his way, pressing out to a 4/1 lead. Henman then hit a hot streak, breaking through both Riviere’s and Chisholm’s volleys, beating them both for pace. Trueman played the anchor role as the young pair piled on the next four games for a 5/4 lead. With the set slipping away, Riviere dropped to the back of the court to salvage the situation. Henman and Trueman came within two points of the set but couldn’t find the final finish they needed, with Riviere and Chisholm narrowly escaping with the set in the deciding game.
The second set was no less competitive, even if Riviere and Chisholm did relax somewhat, given they had established their buffer. Riviere was back up to his shenanigans at the front of the net, most notably striking a volleyed floor-boast winning gallery. However, after Henman and Trueman extended out a 3/1 lead, Riviere was forced to drop back again to recover the situation, with Henman and Trueman continuing their rapid-fire approach. The change-up brought the World Champions back into the ascendancy, finally freeing them up to play the way they want to play. They won the remaining games in the set without reply. In the third set, Henman and Trueman’s resistance faded, with the mountain now too big to climb. Riviere and Chisholm won the day, but Henman and Trueman walked away with plenty of positives for the future.
The second seeds, Steve Virgona and John Lumley, were up next against the New Yorkers Barney Tanfield and Freddie Bristowe. It was fairly easy going for Virgona and Lumley, not having to get out of second gear through much of the match. Tanfield and Bristowe couldn’t find a reliable way of breaking through, as between them, Virgona and Lumley largely had everything covered. The New Yorkers were somewhat off the pace, and by the end of the match all four players were going through the motions, with the result seeming inevitable. Virgona and Lumley won the match in just over an hour of play, dropping only two games.
In the bottom half of the draw, the fourth seeds for both the tournament and the upcoming World Doubles Championships, Ben Taylor-Matthews and Bryn Sayers, played their first match against Vaughan Hamilton and John Woods-Casey, who had beaten Lewis Williams and Nino Merola in their first round. Despite their pedigree as a doubles pair in recent events, Hamilton and Woods-Casey found it difficult to overcome the brick wall that was Taylor-Matthews and Sayers. So often, they played one or two hyper-attacking shots early in the rally, only for the fourth seeds to push the ball back into play. Hamilton and Woods-Casey would then try harder and harder to finish the point, which would inevitably result in overextending, putting a ball into the net or onto the penthouse for Taylor-Matthews and Sayers to finish off. Taylor-Matthews and Sayers never needed to hit anything spectacular of their own, instead knowing their rock-solid defense would be enough to win the match.
The final match featured the only top seeded pair not playing in the World Doubles Championships, as Nick Howell partnered with Josh Dodgson rather than his long-term partner Rob Fahey. Their opponents were Robert Shenkman and Leon Smart, finalists from the French Open earlier in the season. Each player on court had a very defined role. Shenkman swept up everything at the back, letting Smart push up to the galleries. Howell relished his role as an enforcer, while Dodgson was the chaos agent. Overall, everything balanced out through the first set, despite the differing styles and tactics on offer. Shenkman and Smart edged ahead late in the set, owing to a couple of errors from Dodgson, winning two games back-to-back from 4-all to take the first set.
Shenkman and Smart were in control to start the second set. Smart was shuffling all the way across the court to start defending the main wall as well as the galleries, playing his volleys with plenty of control and touch to generate winners. Howell tried to wrestle back control, calling Dodgson off balls and winding up his own force. Even though it meant somewhat forgoing Dodgson’s strengths, the plan worked, battling back from 2/4 to win the set 6/4. Dodgson came back into the match more by the third set, while Shenkman and Smart retreated, no longer playing with the chest-out confidence they had earlier in the match. Dodgson and Howell took six straight games to win the third set. In the fourth, more and more errors entered Shenkman and Smart’s game, as their resistance had well and truly faded, with Dodgson and Howell moving into the semi-finals.
Play continues on Monday evening with the two singles semi-finals, while the doubles competition resumes on Tuesday evening with two further semi-finals. The World Doubles Championship will take place in Moreton Morrell in April, with a limited number of tickets still available.
Match results:
10:30 AM: Camden Riviere & Tim Chisholm (1) def Henry Henman & Max Trueman 6/5 6/3 6/2
12:00 PM: Barney Tanfield & Freddie Bristowe lost to Steve Virgona & John Lumley (2) 1/6 0/6 1/6
2:00 PM: Vaughan Hamilton & John Woods-Casey lost to Ben Taylor-Matthews & Bryn Sayers (4) 1/6 1/6 2/6
3:30 PM: Nick Howell & Josh Dodgson (3) def Robert Shenkman & Leon Smart (5) 4/6 6/4 6/2 6/3
Order of play for Monday (all times CDT):
5:00 PM: Camden Riviere (1) vs Nick Howell (3)
6:30 PM: Bryn Sayers (8) vs John Lumley (2)