Excitement is growing

THE second week of the Guernsey Schools' Tennis Club Mini Wimbledon has produced some close and exciting matches. The beginners' section which was played in the service box area of the court was won by Freya Macangus 4-7, 7-2, 7-5 from Lauren Hunt.

Both girls moved around the court well and had long rallies. Macangus controlled the ball with good use of topspin, but Hunt always worked hard to keep in the game.

In the boys' section, James Hunt played Thomas Nightingale. Again the final went to three sets and after some long rallies ,Hunt edged it 6-8, 7-3, 7-5. Both players look good prospects for the future.

The other group to reach the final stages was the boys' 15 years and under.

In the round-robin section, Simon Touzeau came back from 3-1 down to defeat James Sinclair-Stotty 4-3 for a place in the quarter-finals. Other notable performances came from James Woolrich, Jonathan Bailey and Andrew Hearse.

Hearse continued his excellent form into the semi-finals in which he was narrowly beaten by top-seed Gareth Grand 6-4.

Hearse had some consolation in winning the third/fourth-place play-off with Daniel Thomas.

Having taken the first set on a tie-break, Thomas came back and cruised through the second to set up a tie-break decider.

Hearse set the early pace with a 5-1 lead but Thomas edged back into the game with controlled returns and good court movement. The former used his size well, dominating the net, and finally took the tie 10-8.

The boys' final was an excellent display of tennis from two island players - Grand and Chris Paluch. The former edged the first set 6-4 but Paluch came back well and displayed some excellent movement of the ball around the court, forcing his opponent into errors.

Grand used his experience well, hitting the ball early and going for the shots. Although he won the deciding set 6-3, the match was closer than the score might suggest.

With the rest of the finals to be completed on Saturday, parents and spectators will have some interesting matches.

All players are invited to St Margaret's Lodge Hotel on Sunday at 6pm for the Mini Wimbledon Ball (disco) and presentation of T-shirts and trophies.