Eastbourne tennis players straight into new year action

Meads TC players Noel Bennett, Mike Dixon, Lucy Parkin, Hazel Sneath, Brigid Argyle, Mary Sherlock, Andrew Murphy and Chris Rummins

The ladies had a satisfying 3-1 victory over local rivals Hampden Park whilst the men were defeated by the same scoreline by The Green LTC.

In overcast but dry conditions Hazel Sneath and Lucy Parkin were in imperious form for the home team winning both their matches with impressive tennis combining power and precision.

The Meads’ second pair of Brigid Argyle and Mary Sherlock lost their opening rubber but bounced back with a superb performance in their second match to win 6-0, 6-3.

Hailsham TC's Johnny Chea, David Harding, Johan Jooste and Neil Downer

Captain Hazel Sneath said: “Hampden Park are our nearest and dearest rivals and so it’s particularly satisfying to come away with a convincing win. After a couple of recent defeats we really needed this victory.”

The Meads’ men had to concede bragging rights to the ladies as they went down 3-1 to a strong team from The Green TC from Hastings.

Second pair Noel Bennett and Mike Dixon struggled to cope with some excellent serving from The Green and lost both their matches, but first pair Chris Rummins and Andrew Murphy produced skilful and tenacious tennis to win their first match on a championship tie-break before narrowly losing their second rubber on another third set tie-break.

Captain Noel Bennett said: “Chris Rummins and Andrew Murphy again produced terrific tennis against very tough opposition.”

HAILSHAM TC

Hailsham Tennis Club’s men’s first team played their first match of the year away to Hampden Park third team.

First pair Neil Downer and Johan Jooste had a good win against Mark Powell and Grant Tarrant-Fisher 6-3, 6-1.

The second pair, Johnny Chea and David Harding had a terrific result against HP first pair Jeremy Dewing and Neil Bearnish 6-1, 6-1.

In the reverse legs, Johnny and David won 6-0, 6-4 over Mark and Grant, clinching the win.

Neil and Johan had a harder contest against Jeremy (a former Hailsham player) and Neil, winning the first set 7-5 before dropping the second set 3-6.

In the championship tie-break decider the HP pair came through to take the leg, meaning that Hailsham won the match 3-1.

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