Remarkable Groundhog Day in the Portsmouth Tennis League for Warsash and Avenue

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Regular readers will recall that last week’s headline mixed division 1 match between Warsash and Avenue 1 ended as a rare tie - rubbers, sets and games shared equally.

Such results happen perhaps once in every 250 matches. So league secretary Michael Isaacs thought he had woken up in Groundhog Day when he saw the result of the return fixture between the two clubs.

Yes, another tie!

The fact that two of the players in each team had changed confirmed it was a different match, and this time each team won 32 games compared with the previous week’s 33. Otherwise, it was an exact repeat.

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Avenue v Warsash Mixed (from left):  James Rosenthal, Katie Rowley, Viola Masona, Tom Dow, Jodie Adams, Ed Percival, Victoria Pine, Andy Herrod-TaylorAvenue v Warsash Mixed (from left):  James Rosenthal, Katie Rowley, Viola Masona, Tom Dow, Jodie Adams, Ed Percival, Victoria Pine, Andy Herrod-Taylor
Avenue v Warsash Mixed (from left): James Rosenthal, Katie Rowley, Viola Masona, Tom Dow, Jodie Adams, Ed Percival, Victoria Pine, Andy Herrod-Taylor

And in a week of extraordinary close matches, three other matches ended with just one game separating the teams.

In Men’s 2, Fishbourne’s promotion challenge was slowed by fellow challengers Avenue 2nds, but only by a single game.

The opening rubbers were shared, but Avenue claimed a set advantage. Fishbourne’s JJ Bone and Joe Rawlings scored a decisive straight sets win over Tom Dow and Richard Marston in the first reverse rubber before the first two sets of the final rubbers were shared.

A tie break win for Fishbourne’s Carl Pendle and James Crossman would give them all three points, while Avenue’s Paul Skipp and Ross Macpherson could claim the winning draw points by a single game if they could take it.

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Southsea v Fishbourne Ladies (from left) Megan Evans, Georgie Smith (back), Helen Shelton (front), Linda Swinburne. Fishbourne centre is Suzie Upton-Brown, Kate Gurl, Nikki Scott, Gemma MarchantSouthsea v Fishbourne Ladies (from left) Megan Evans, Georgie Smith (back), Helen Shelton (front), Linda Swinburne. Fishbourne centre is Suzie Upton-Brown, Kate Gurl, Nikki Scott, Gemma Marchant
Southsea v Fishbourne Ladies (from left) Megan Evans, Georgie Smith (back), Helen Shelton (front), Linda Swinburne. Fishbourne centre is Suzie Upton-Brown, Kate Gurl, Nikki Scott, Gemma Marchant

And take it they did, by a comfortable 10-5, leaving five of the seven teams in the division still in with a title chance.

The ladies 4 encounter between Lee 4ths and Alverstoke also finished with rubbers and sets shared, but with unusual scorelines.

Both top pairs beat the opponents’ second strings 6-0 6-0 - a rare enough event in itself. But in the reverse rubbers, Alverstoke’s Nicky Heyworth and Sue Western scored a 7-5 6-0 win before Lee’s Jacqui Hyde and Kathy Reagan almost matched it - winning 7-6 6-0.

The extra game conceded was enough to give the winning draw points to Alverstoke.

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In the midweek mixed masters league, Ryde Mead and Southsea, both seeking a first win of the season, shared the rubbers and sets in extreme heat before Mead found that, agonisingly, they had lost by just one game.

CourtX’s men’s 3rd and 4th teams enjoyed successful weekends. The 3rds were comfortable 4-0 winners against Avenue 3rds while the 4ths played out a rare 12-set marathon against Southsea.

Ozzy Glogic and Keith Evans claimed victory in the final rubber match tie break to give them a 3-1 win.

Rowlands Castle ladies travelled to Wickham knowing three points would all but seal promotion from division 3. But it was not to be. The rubbers were shared 2-2 and although Castle’s Jane Mellor and Diana Gray won their second rubber, they dropped a set, enabling Wickham to claim the winning draw points.

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Fishbourne took full advantage of Castle’s slip up, keeping their own promotion hopes alive after edging past Southsea thanks to match tie break win for Susie Upton Brown and Gemma Marchant.

Mixed division 2 produced two more close matches. Ryde Mead shared the rubbers and sets with Avenue 2nds, but claimed the winning draw points by six games, while Seacourt and Ventnor played 11 sets before the latter claimed victory by the odd set (despite winning seven fewer games overall!)

There was another 11 set, four-hour marathon in the midweek men’s masters contest between Avenue and Warsash. Three of the rubbers went to tie break - two won by Warsash - but Rob Mort and Phil Tusler beat Mike Bevan and Michael Isaacs in straight sets to give Avenue the winning draw points.

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