Gales and rain can’t stop hardy tennis players – but the Government can!

The ladies teams from Lee and Avenue played through steady drizzle to complete their game, Lee making better use of the home conditions to win 4-0.

Avenue Men’s 2nds were fortunate to be playing on their home ‘clay’ courts, which stand up to the rain much better than most.

They shared the opening round of rubbers with Canoe Lake 2nds - Lake’s top pair, Rob Fairall and Ryan Anders, taking theirs in straight sets. And while Avenue’s top pair, Paul Skipp and Ross Macpherson, won their opening rubber, they dropped a set to Dave Robertson and Pete Clarke.

Fairall and Skip then went on to beat Skipp and Macpherson, in another rubber which went to the match tie break, leaving the match to be decided by the final rubber.

Robertson and Clarke took the first set 7-6 but Andy Gilliatt and Ian Marks kept Avenue’s hopes alive by taking the second, before they lost an agonisingly close tie break, giving Lake a 3-1 success.

Canoe Lake’s mixed team travelled to Chichester and only dropped five games in the eight sets played.

The match between Warsash’s first and second mixed teams – playing in the same division because of the reduced nature of the leagues this winter – was almost as one-sided. As expected, the firsts won all four rubbers for the loss of just 13 games overall.

The final mixed match played saw Active Academy and Southsea battle near gale force winds on the seafront.

The initial rubbers were shared, with John Kemble and Claire Keiditsch taking one for

Southsea on a match tie break, while Sam Marston and Chris Hull replied for Active.

Active took control of the reverse rubbers, winning both comfortably, for a 3-1 triumph.

The weather had relented by Tuesday and Fishbourne’s midweek ladies masters team took on Canoe Lake in glorious sunshine.

As in many matches, the first round of rubbers was shared, with both first pairs beating the respective second strings.

The match eventually swung on the encounter between the respective first pairs, Lorna Donnelly and Tamzin Saunders (Fishbourne) and Caroline Hardy and Wendy Evans (Lake).

The first set went to a tie break, with Hardy and Evans just edging that, before securing the second set 6-3 and with it the rubber.

Lake’s second pair, Sue Price and Angela Stafford, beat Nikki Holden and Nicola Dawtrey as their side won 3-1.

Wednesday saw two final matches completed before the Government did what the weather had failed to do - stopping tennis players playing tennis!

Warsash teams were involved in both matches. The ladies lost to Lee by 3 rubbers to 1 with Helen Rawlins and Karen Harrison taking a consolation rubber after Wendy Hadfield and Deanna Tarrant had scored a double for Lee, backed up by Barbara Wilkie and Sarah Pearse’s win over Anne Hall and Elaine O’Donnell.

Meanwhile, the men travelled to Avenue, losing by the same score with Rob Mort and Andy Perkins winning both their rubbers for Avenue and Syd Quinn and Trevor Spence gaining a consolation rubber when they beat Phil Pinto and Stu Wiles on a match tie break.