It has been a busy summer season on the courts at Hurlingham, in between the torrential summer downpours. We added a new men’s team to the Middlesex Summer League, and now have eight teams represented alongside the vets, NCL, junior matches and friendlies. This is not to mention the box leagues, social tennis, the junior academy and more!

Barely had 24-hours elapsed after the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic ended, than the third Junior Davis Cup kicked off, when twelve top juniors played all afternoon to warm up for the ensuing five days of the Junior Championships. Running alongside these were the third annual Mini Champs, which really succeeded with a pipeline of eager 8-10-year-olds.

The sun returned just in time for the adult Finals, which was a wonderful celebration of tennis across all the different events. It was the second year that all matches were held on the same weekend, providing the opportunity for spectators to enjoy the U30s all the way through to the Super Vets. The Men’s Singles saw a rematch of last year’s final, with Anton Bettink defeating Niklas Herbring this time, and there was a new Ladies’ Singles winner, Eloise Sarre.

The summer season usually ends with the annual tennis dinner, but because of East Wing renovations, this will take on a new look this year with a celebration BBQ on the evening of Wednesday 11 September. We hope to see you there!

SUZIE TOYN, CHAIR, TENNIS

For the first time, we hosted external participants to an LTA tournament weekend on 18 and 19 May, for 14U boys and girls called ‘Play Your Way to Wimbledon’.

Our juniors faced a range of excellent players for a place in the next round of a tournament whose final is ultimately played on the courts of the All England Club. Sixteen boys and eight girls participated – our home players, Max Warner and Bea Cazenove were both runners up! Pictured: Bea, far right, with winner, non-member Hina Nakamura.