In the last 2 weeks of September, Newry Tennis Club held its annual Best Property Services sponsored tournament which is for members only For the first time since the early 1990’s, one man would win all 3 events open to him as 18 year old Shane McAteer spent six hours on court on the one day to win three successive finals back to back. Similarly 20 year old Eve Campbell had a wonderful fortnight as she won two doubles events and was runner up in the singles, all this whilst coming back and forward from university. Shane won his first singles tournament at the Newry Open back in June and since then had added the Warrenpoint Open a month ago and has now completed a precocious treble with a win at the Newry Closed.. It was all the more impressive as he lost just 8 games in the entire singles tournament, an average loss of two games per match and he had won an amazing 33 games in a row before losing his first halfway through the second set of the semi! However it was an entertaining final as he faced Rory McGeown a joint Warrenpoint/Newry member who was playing a Newry main draw final for the first time. McGeown had produced the giant killing result of the competition with a 61 76 victory over local tennis legend Giby Vettiankal in the semi. The final was a different story as McGeown found himself 0-5 down very quickly due to the athleticism and retrieval ability of McAteer who gives no free points whatsoever. Rory became more controlled in his hitting with heavy topspin on both sides pushing Shane into the corners of the court to comeback to 3-5 but it was all in vain as he lost set one 3-6. It was a tighter second set as the next six games were shared but Shane utilised his forehand to move away again at the end for another 6-3 victory and a first Newry Closed title for the teenager.

​

It was an exciting finish to the women’s singles as it was on a round robin basis which meant every set and game counted. Entering the final match Eve Campbell had the advantage over Anna Richmond on games won and when they shared the first two sets 6-4 apiece it was all hanging in the balance. But Anna turned up the pressure with aggressive ground strokes and pulled away 6-0 to win the title.  Eve could not have been too disappointed to lose to her good friend as she had already won the Women’s Doubles a day earlier with partner Lynne Dalzell who was extremely steady with accurate lobs and Eve putting away crisp volleys in their triumph over Maureen Grant and Carmel Richmond. Eve then teamed up with the aforementioned Shane McAteer in what was an irresistible combination losing just 13 games in the entire tournament including a 63 62 win over Irene McKnight and Sean Sloan in the final. As darkness loomed Shane added a third title of the day as he won the Men’s Doubles with his partner Cormac Moody. Cormac took up tennis just over two years ago and is now a main draw champion as he used his customary deep high topspin shots into the far reaches of the court as McAteer was deadly when required to beat Marty Keenan and Gareth Smith 64 62. Overall the tournament was proof that Newry tennis club is flourishing with continued increased membership and young people such as Eve and Shane providing wonderful representation.