2015 SOL Open & ITF Grade 5 Seniors/Super Seniors Nationals
Last night marked the start of this year’s Sol Open Nationals and ITF Seniors/Super Seniors tournament
Matches Played (25th Sep)
Men’s Open
Romani Mayers v Renaldo Gibson 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
Matthew Weir (8) v Harry MacKenzie 6-0, 6-0
Men’s Over 35s
Richard Marsh v Derek Scutt 6-0, 6-2
Men’s Over 45s
Craig Smith (3) v Lloyd Slocombe 6-4, 4-6 (3-10)
The match of the night was certainly Romani Mayers v Renaldo Gibson. Romani, our top U14 player, played commendably in a 3hr match against a more experienced player to secure his victory in the first round of the Men’s Open draw. Romani took an early 4-1 lead in the first set but Renaldo quickly took back the initiative to eventually take the first set 6-4.
In the second set Romani managed to secure a few breaks against Renaldo to win 6-2, but that score does not reflect well on the toughness of the set overall. In the final set Renaldo appeared to suffer more from the toll of the previous two sets. This helped Romani to break serve at 4-4 to take the final set 6-4. Both players played well throughout a tough, hard fought match.
On court #2 Lloyd Slocombe played smart tennis to secure his victory over former Davis Cup player and #3 seed, Craig Smith, in the Men’s Over 35 draw. Lloyd lost a long and hard-fought first set but didn’t let up in the second and his efforts eventually paid off with him leveling the match. In the final 10 point tie-breaker Lloyd appeared to have more legs than Smith and he took the decider at 10-3.
The other two matches went quite easily for the favourites. Derek Scutt lost to his Over 35s doubles partner Richard Marsh in straight sets, while Harry MacKenzie lost to the Men’s Open #8 seed, Matthew Weir, also in straight sets.
