Held at Lord’s as always these resulted in two very hard-fought wins for Oxford: 4/3 for the men and 4/2 for the women.
The men’s came down the last match, the lead singles, when Ben Yorston for Oxford beat back the challenge of the talented Patrick Smart. In the ladies, superb performances by Izzy Marshall in both singles and doubles – and the first ever deciding ladies’ doubles – swung the match Oxford’s way.
Congratulations to the teams, to Andrew and Craig for their training – and thanks to the great Rob and Clare Fahey!
Why the Faheys? Well, shortly before the matches, we organised two masterclasses for the squads – thanks to the generosity of Railroad Club members. The team members found these classes with the Faheys highly effective and highly inspirational.
We are now just behind Cambridge in the post-war tally so the plan is to have Rob and Clare’s support again next year as part of the push to pull level in this long-running rivalry.
The Women’s match – Oxford clinch a cliffhanger in the deciding doubles
The following players represented the Oxford Women’s’ Team at Lords in the Blues Real Tennis Varsity; Izzy Marshall (New), Mary Strevens (Magdalen), Cora Hill (Queen’s) and Louise Fitzpatrick (Trinity) with Abby Hayton (St John’s) as reserve.
The first day of the match kicked off with Louise taking to the court to play her singles at 4th string. After breaking her wrist (racket-hand) in November, Louise had missed out on months of training and matches but had worked very hard over the previous weeks to get on court and find opponents to practise against. After losing a tight first set 6-5, Louise showed some true grit to battle back the second set 6-2 and confidently took the third 6-1 and the match. Oxford were 1-0 up.
Next up was Mary playing her singles at the 2nd string. She faced a formidable opponent, Ellie, squash at the number 1 position for the Light Blues who had a lot of power on shots off the back wall. Mary took the first set 6-3 but her Cambridge opponent battled back in the second and used her power to take the next two sets 6-2, 6-1. The overall score was now level at 1-1.
Mary and Cora then went on to play their doubles at the 2nd pair position, facing not only Mary’s opponent but also her partner Anna, a familiar opponent for us Lawn Tennis players who plays at the number one position for the Cambridge Blues on that team. The combination of their flashy volleys and powerful back-wall shots proved to dominate the court. The first set was close with Cambridge just managing to win the 11th game and take the set 6-5. Despite a commendable Oxford effort, Cambridge played more aggressively in the second set and took the match 6-5, 6-1. The first day of play concluded with Cambridge 2-1 up.
The second day began with Izzy taking to the court for the first time for her singles at the 1st string. Despite a nervous start against Ulla, the Cambridge captain, who showed some incredible pick-ups out of the corners, Izzy took the first set 6-2 and managed to find some momentum in the second set and take the win 6-2, 6-3. The overall score was now level again at 2-2.
Next up was Cora, playing her singles at the 3rd string. We knew this was going to be a tough match after seeing how well her opponent hit the ball in the doubles the day before. The lefty serve and cut volleys proved too much, as Anna from Cambridge seemed to get better and better throughout the match. Cora put up a valiant fight to the dying end, digging balls off the tambour and out of the corners but Anna eventually took it 6-2, 6-1.
We were now 3-2 down with one more match to play to stay in it. Izzy and Louise took to the courts to play the 1st string doubles. After a close start, the Oxford pair managed to pull away, with Izzy’s serve and Louise’s volleys working effectively together to stay at the service end and keep our opponents pinned into the walls. Eventually, Oxford took the match 6-1, 6-1.
We were now level at 3-3 and, for the first time in the history of the Women’s Blues Varsity Match, the winner would be determined by a deciding doubles match. The pair must be made up of two players who have not already teamed up to play doubles and so Izzy and Mary took to the court against Ulla and Ellie. After racing to a strong lead, the power from Ellie’s back-wall shots began to force errors from the Oxford pair. We decided to mix-up the strategy with Izzy every so often taking the galleries and Mary the back. This proved to throw off our opponents and bring the control of the match back into our hands. Finally, with consistent and tricky serves giving us the volleys we wanted, Oxford took the match 6-2, 6-2 and we were the Varsity 2023 Champions.
We were delighted to be crowned champions but, of course, could not have done it without the hard work of Andrew and Craig training us, finding practice matches for us, and supporting us throughout the weekend.
Well done the team!
Men’s Varsity – another Oxford triumph!
The first match of this year’s varsity for the men was the no.1 doubles, which saw Benedict Yorston and Isaac Wighton take on Patrick Smart (hcp 20ish) and Jack Wilson-Smith. Though the latter is only a recent addition to the CURTC, he is a former Cambridge lawn tennis captain and current blue, so we were uncertain what kind of challenge this pair would present. Unfortunately, the Cambridge pair came out flying — Wilson Smith energetically crossing to make some brilliant volley interceptions paired with Smart’s solid, yet aggressive, hitting from the back proved an effective combination. Despite some incredible rallies, Yorston and Wighton fell to what was a slightly unusual style of play from the Cambridge no.1 pairing in three tight sets, 6-2, 6-5, 6-4.
Next on was Alfred Backhouse at no.2 singles. With a roughly 15 point handicap difference compared to his opponent, Alfred proved far too strong for his opposite number in what was the swiftest match of the weekend. With a confident 6-0, 6-0 win, Alfred set us back on the right track with some rapid volley returns and a healthy amount of balls clattering into the grille.
The final match of the first day was no.3 singles, played by Louis Manson, this year’s captain. With a similarly large handicap difference, Manson got off to a strong start winning the first set 6-0. However, as he has a tendency to do, the captain lost his concentration slightly in the second making for a tighter set than perhaps could have been the case at 6-3, though his Cambridge opposite number also raised his level. Thus, the end of the first day saw Oxford leading 2-1.
First on for the men on Saturday morning was Isaac Wighton, whose match was scheduled for this time so he could get back to Oxford to lead the second part of his double life as a budding actor. Up against Wilson-Smith, all were interested to see how his doubles would translate to singles. In the first set, the Cambridge man came out flying and made the most of his lawn tennis abilities to showcase some prolific volleying and hustling around the court, helping him to edge a tight first set. Isaac, however, came back strongly in the second, demonstrating his natural ball-striking skills to lead comfortably throughout. All square and into the third… With the rubber, and indeed overall match, on a knife-edge, the Cambridge no.4’s excellent volleying and energy proved slightly too much in what was a thrilling encounter, levelling the overall tie at 2-2 going into the final afternoon.
The second string doubles, thanks to the large handicap difference, followed a similar vein to the singles. Dropping just one game in three sets, Oxford’s lead was restored going into the final match of the fixture, the coveted no.1 singles.
Having played same opponent last year – and delivered a storming victory – Yorston went into the match knowing what he had to do to secure the Oxford win. In an edgy first set that saw some excellent retrieving from the corners, Yorston pulled through to take it 6-4, a lot closer than the previous year’s bagel. In the second set, however, Smart played some inspired tennis. Hammering the ball into the corners at the same time as finding the tambour and grille with regularity off both wings, he hurried through the second set taking it by an impressive six games to one. Going into the final set, then, everything was on the line. An Oxford win, and it would all be over… a Cambridge win, and the tie would go to a shoot-out. Relishing the pressure, Yorston appeared unaffected by the occasion and delivered a superb, steady performance in the last set to clinch victory by a
comfortable margin of 6-2. Then we all got to see what we had been waiting for, the patented Yorston victory celebration: racket in the left hand, right arm outstretched with a 45 degree angle at the elbow, and a clenched fist pump. A great way for the 4-time varsity player to go out on his Oxford real tennis career.
Afterwards we were treated to an amazing black tie dinner in the Long Room at Lords, for which we
must say an enormous thank you both to the MCC for hosting us the entire weekend (and Brian in particular for putting up with my annoying emails at all times of day asking for rescheduling), and to Pol Roger for sponsoring the event. As always, the team owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the senior committee for keeping the club running, and particularly to Andrew and Craig, who not only run the club on a day-to-day basis but are extremely helpful in organising fixtures, training (including the Fahey masterclass), and generally helping to create an atmosphere which makes real tennis at Oxford so enjoyable.