THE Men’s and Ladies’ doubles finals at Penallt Tennis Club took place last week and provided two excellent contests, despite unseasonably cold, damp and windy conditions, reports CHRIS ADAMS.

Veteran pairing Peter Dimmock and Rob Prewett faced lively 2023 champions Josh Griffiths and Henry Francis in the men's final.

The oldies had benefitted from the withdrawal due to injury of two opposing pairs on their way to the final and started brightly.

Playing accurate and intelligent tennis, they found themselves two service breaks up at 4-1 before the youngsters found their composure.

And by the time they closed out the first set at 6-4, the contest was much more balanced.

Thereafter, Josh and Henry visibly relaxed and gained the upper hand.

With Henry playing steadily and reliably from the back of the court and Josh always dangerous at the net, the older pair found it increasingly difficult to create any chances.

The match provided good entertainment for the watching crowd, but the younger men took the second set 6-1 and the deciding tie-break to four.

Attention then turned to the Ladies match, with champions Lizelle de Jager and Nicky Amery playing Bev Leaf and Liz Clarke.

The ladies finalists at the Penallt Tennis Club doubles tournament
The ladies finalists at the Penallt Tennis Club doubles tournament (Chris Adams)

Lizelle and Nicky settled into the match quickly and took the first set 6-1.

But the second set was close throughout, with Bev and Lizelle playing their customary powerful ground strokes against the contrasting styles of their partners, Liz patient and consistent and Nicky more mercurial.

The second set went to a tie-break which Bev and Liz won to take the match into a deciding 10-point tie-break.

They could not, however, maintain the momentum and Lizelle and Nicky took a couple of early mini breaks to establish a lead they maintained to retain their title.

Earlier, the Ladies’ and Men’s plates, for first round losers, were won respectively by Rosie Adams and Juliet Bucknall and Dan Cassidy and Jun Chow.

The latter pairing could easily have been playing in the main final had they not lost a titanic struggle the day before against club chairman Tim Davies and Adam Clarke, which featured two extremely long tie-breaks.