Newry Tennis Club
Dazzling autumnal September sun shone down on the participants over the last few weeks for the most prestigious tournament in the Newry Tennis calendar. The annual Newry Open was of an extremely high standard and finals day was brimming with spectators and supporters alike. The Men’s Singles final was a classic match up of styles with the all round touch game of Giby Vettiankal taking on 16 year old wunderkind Tom Harty. It could have been called the “Federer inspired” final as Giby glides around the court and never seems to even sweat with the effortless style reminiscent of the great man. Tom was inspired to take up tennis by watching Federer and his exquisite single handed backhand is a thing of beauty also in the mould of the Swiss legend. Roger would have been proud of the young man as in a tight first set Tom used his huge topspin forehand to carve open gaps in the Vettiankal game and take it 6-4 with just one break of serve throughout. The match had become more open with both players willing to break up the play with forays to the net. Tom broke again at the start of set two and was now a set and a break up but the cerebral Giby broke back with a beautiful fading angle forehand just over the net but within the service box. Giby, the 5 times Open champion had worked out to change tactics and was now fading the ball much more by not giving Tom any pace and it provided another service break as he equalled the match score with the second set 6-3. It was a very tense third set and you could see how much it meant to the teenage Harty who had just turned 16 this year and is studying at St Colman’s College with his Mum cheering from the sidelines,. What a talented youngster he is and you can see why he is ranked top 10 in Ulster with his fluid groundstrokes timed to perfection. The first three games of the final set were all service breaks as scoreboard pressure began to tell. Giby continued to float the ball more and gave his younger opponent no pace to fuel his groundies opening up a 4-1 lead. It looked like another pendulum swing was possible when Tom saved 2 match points from 3-5 down to get back to 4-5. He then had four break points to equalise the match at 5-5 but Giby used finesse and guile to outmanoeuvre his younger foe. Giby had won his sixth Newry Open title on the twenty fifth anniversary of his first as the crowd gave both players a standing ovation. This match was followed by the Ladies Singles as best friends and doubles partners Anna Richmond and Eve Campbell met in a good humoured encounter. Both are impressive teenage competitors with much to admire about their games. There were riveting contrasts in styles on display as Anna used her devastating forehand against the more delicate all round court craft of Eve. It was a fluctuating match which swung in the favour of Anna 3-6 6-1 6-3 and hopefully will inspire more young women to take up the sport.
Anna and Eve had already been faced with doubles final disappointment as they lost to the top seeds and seasoned winning pairing of Dorothy Blair and June McEvoy. A one sided first set then got compelling in the second at 4-4 before the more experienced partnership were keen to end the match as June was suffering from laryngitis and was wary of a final set decider. So it was a 6-1 6-4 win for Dorothy and June as their overall consistency told.
To give you some idea of the standard of excellence on display in this tournament, the Mixed Doubles had an entrant in 15 year old Marie Perla Biansumba who has a World Junior ranking and played in the Orange Bowl in Florida back in December 2014. That is the World Championships for Under 18s and Marie Perla gave the galleries an entertaining afternoon as she and her playing partner Jeff Collins contested both their semi and final in succession. In the final against Briege Crawford and resident Newry club coach Tim Smith the top seeds used the slice at the net from Jeff but the difference between the sides was the measured powerful forehand of the 15 year old prodigy. From that point on she was in full flow with eight games in a row and the title for the Kildare marvel. Speaking to Marie Perla, she gave credit to the forehand of her opponent Tim and was inspired by listening to Chris Brown on her mp3 player! She told me she is off to play an International Tennis Federation tournament in Morocco and the goal is to qualify for Junior Wimbledon next year. The people of Newry wish her all the best in her promising future and were delighted to see her in attendance.
Famously in the Wimbledon Lawn tennis Club there is a Rudyard Kipling quote from his poem “If” which goes “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, and treat those two impostors just the same”. For Tim Smith this week he was to live that quote as he bounced back from his Mixed Doubles loss to triumph in the men’s doubles alongside Martin Keenan.
Under the floodlights of a pleasant Tuesday evening, the Newry pairing came back from1-4 down in the first set against Dundalk duo Marek Charubin and Stephen Broadhurst. Marek was fresh from winning the Men’s Plate title earlier that night with his booming serve against Alex Staselovich. Tim and Marty saved further break points at 3-4 down in the first set and began to turn it round with Tim’s ferocious forehand and Marty using floated drop shots over the net. The Newry pair made the important breakthrough in the 11th game and won it 7-5. It was again a tight second set with engrossing extended rallies becoming customary. All angles on the court were used for an exciting denouement as supporters were celebrating constant wonderful winners. Marty and Tim had added the Newry Open title to their Louth Open trophy won earlier this summer. They had thoroughly deserved it having beaten top seeds Giby Vettiankal and Jamie Campbell in the semis 6-4 in the final set, in what was that pairings first loss in local tennis for 5 years!
A quick mention of the Mixed Doubles Plate as it was a family affair. It is not often in sport you would get father and daughter against mother and son but that was the pairing on Saturday. Mother Lynne and son Andrew just proved a touch better than father Ronnie and daughter Emma. The energy levels, excitement and love for the sport were apparent when watching this family in what was a tremendously engaging spectacle.
All in all, the annual Newry Open Tennis tournament is fun, competitive, inspiring and compelling in equal measure. I promise you that you will not be disappointed if you give this sport a try. A reminder that Social tennis for all abilities is held every Thursday night at 7pm.
NEWRY OPEN RESULTS MEN’S SINGLES: Giby Vettiankal bt Tom Harty 4-6 6-3 6-4
WOMEN’S SINGLES Anna Richmond bt Eve Campbell 3-6 6-1 6-3 MEN’S DOUBLES Martin Keenan & Tim Smith bt Stephen Broadhurst & Marek Charubin 7-5 6-4 WOMEN’S DOUBLES Dorothy Blair & June McEvoy bt Eve Campbell & Anna Richmond 6-1 6-4 MIXED DOUBLES Marie Perla Biansumba & Jeff Collins bt Briege Crawford & Tim Smith 7-5 6-0
PLATE FINALS -MEN’S SINGLES Marek Charubin bt Alex Staselovich 6-0 6-0 WOMENS SINGLES Derval Campbell bt Louise Bell 6-2 6-2 MEN’S DOUBLES Conor Richmond & Matthew Richmond bt Mark O’Hare & Pat O’Neill 6-1 6-0 WOMENS DOUBLES Mary McGeown & Patricia White bt Derval Campbell & Julie Grant 6-3 6-3 MIXED DOUBLES Lynne & Andrew Dalzell bt Emma & Ronnie Dalzell 7-6 2-6 6-3