Last Saturday, the British Amateur Open Doubles was held at The Queen’s Club from 9th- 18th February. It’s worth noting that this is the first time in many years that 3 Seacourt members have reached this stage of the event.
In the singles, Seacourt players James Medlow reached the quarter-finals where he lost to the 2nd seed Jamie Douglas, while Will Flynn reached the semi-finals, losing to the number 1 seed Robert Shenkman in 4 sets.
In the doubles, James Medlow & Max Trueman were the number 4 seeds. They comfortably won their first round against C.Defries & Mark Mathias before coming up against the number 1 seeds Jamie Giddins & Robert Shenkman. The boys were in no mood to let this opportunity pass by, they won the first set 6/4, playing at their best, the top seeds matched them taking the 2nd set 6/4, the battle was on. They exchanged games right up to 5/5 in the third set with Seacourt taking it 6/5. There was some breathtaking tennis, but the opposition fought back hard to take the 4th set 6/5, now all to play for! The final set went all the way to 5/5 again, but James & Max pulled through 6/4 4/6 6/5 5/6 6/5 in an incredible match which took over 4 hours.
The 2nd semi-final, which was now over 2 hours behind schedule, saw the number 2 seeds Rory Giddings & Will Flynn take on unseeded N.James & R.Elmitt in another tight match. Rory & Will dropped the first set 6/5 before lifting their game, winning the 2nd set 6/2 and the 3rd set 6/0. This was followed by a nervy 4th set just taking it 6/5. Rory & Will won the match 5/6 6/2 6/0 6/5.
James & Max fought hard to win the 2nd set 6/5, making the match level at 1 set all, and points lasting in some cases over 30 rallies, this was a match to watch! Out of the blocks first in the 3rd set, James & Max took it 6/3, the level of tennis was as good as you will see! The 4th set was very tense, all the way to 4/4, then James & Max grabbed the 9th game to go 5/4 before taking the match, 2/6 6/5 6/3 6/4. Winning the Amateur Doubles is an outstanding achievement by James & Max.
James, Max & Will should be very proud of themselves, the level of tennis they can play now is incredible. Congratulations to them all!
To celebrate their success, there will be an exhibition doubles match featuring the 3 finalists and Luke Danby. The match will take place on Thursday 29th February, starting at 6.00 pm. Come to Seacourt to watch some fantastic tennis and join them in the bar afterwards to congratulate them on their success!