11U Girls County Cup Report
The girls’ team of Anaiya, Megann, Anamaya, Lillian and Sayaka travelled to Malvern Tennis Club for the 11&U Girls Play-off group 1B on Saturday 15th June and Sunday 16th June.
There were 2 groups, each consisting of 3 counties. Cambs were in a group with Nottinghamshire and Herefordshire & Worcestershire. Each county played every other County in the group with matches being the best of 3 FAST 4 sets with the third set being a match tiebreak. Each match consisted of 4 singles and 2 doubles and if the rubbers were 3 each then a doubles shoot out was played. Each county would then play the county in other box in the corresponding position to determine the final standings.
The weather caused disruption to the draw at the start, with heavy rain and hailstorms massively delaying the order of play. Notts and H&W were first to play in our group. Our team started play at 3pm against Nottinghamshire. First matches on were Lillian at 4 who played Silvana and Anamaya at 3 who played Imogen. Both Lillian and Anamaya were just too powerful and hit through their opponents to win 4/0, 4/1 and 4/1, 4/0 respectively. Megann and Anaiya were next up to play their singles. Megann at 2 played Sithandanzile with a convincing 4/0, 4/0 win. Anaiya had the toughest opponent at number 1, playing Sophia. Anaiya played good attacking tennis to win the first set 4/2. The second set was closer, a few more errors from Anaiya gave Sophia a new lease of life to take Anaiya into a set tie break. Anaiya's grit and determination gave her the win 4/3, 9/7 in the tiebreak. That gave Cambs the 4/0 win over Notts after the singles.
Next up we played Herts & Worc, the host county. Lillian played number 4 against Luna. Stronger shots from Lillian won her the first set 4/0. The second set was closer, Luna's consistency caused Lillan to make a few more errors, however, Lillian stayed strong, continued going for her shots and won 4/2 in the second. Anamaya played at number 3 against Summer from H&W. They were toe to toe and took the first set to a tie break. Anamaya stayed calm and positive to win it 4/3 (7-5). Anamaya's momentum continued into the second set and her using her topspin for consistency won her the match 4/2. Megann's outstanding movement on the court and the power made it an easy win over Allegra, 4/0 4/0. Anaiya played at number 1 against Ruby. Anaiya was a little slow to get going, making too many errors to lose the first set 1/4. Real focus and determination meant she was hitting with purpose to win the second set in a tie break 7/5. Match tie break, Anaiya did well to block out the emotions from Ruby and continue the momentum to win 5-10. After the singles, Cambs were winning 4/0.
It was late in the day and had time for one doubles against H&W. The referee confirmed that our other doubles against Notts and H&W were to be scratched as they did not affect the overall standings. It was the second pair playing, Lillian paired up with Saya, who had not played the singles, to play against Luna and Elizabeth. Cambs were very relaxed on court and clearly were enjoying playing together. Some excellent volleying gave Cambs the win 4/0, 4/0. 5-0 win overall against Hereford and Worcestershire.
Day 2 and we were up against a strong Yorkshire team. All 4 singles went on at the same time which led to a nerve-racking watch! Anaiya played at number 1 and was up against Emmanuella, number 4 in the county. It was always going to be tough. Although Anaiya played some excellent tennis and had well-constructed points, Emmanuella's sheer power and size was too much and we lost 4/0, 4/0. Megann played 2, Anamaya played 3 and Lillian 4. All 3 of these matches were nail biters! Anamaya playing Isabella and Lillian playing Natalia matches were very closed and went to first set tie breaks. Anamaya lost 7-1 to a more confident hitting Isabella. Lillian kept her cool and won her match tie break 8/6. Lillian went on to use her clean, powerful striking to win her match 4/3, 4/0 in the end. Anamaya brought it back to win the second set 4/1 and we entered the match tie break. Anamaya kept calm and used her topspin to win against Isabella who was fighting back tears throughout the tie break. Another close win for Cambs, 3/4(1), 4-1, 10-6.
In the meantime, Megann was having a very long battle against Alessia, who matched her with power and depth. We had just entered the first set tie break as the others had finished. Neither Alessia nor Megann seemed to lose their nerve throughout - with rally lengths averaging 16 shots. Megann's grit and determination came out on top to win the first set tie break 9-7. Starting the second set, Alessia started to use more height and depth in their epically long baseline trades, which caused problems for Megann and left her 3-1 down. We started to be clever, and Megann used more angles to push Alessia out wide and brought it back to 3-3 and into another tie break. Megann's mental strength gave her the tie break win, 7-3, and Cambs the 3-1 lead into the doubles.
Doubles time! Our first pair Anaiya and Megann took on their 1&2, Emmanuella and Alessia. Cambs girls were more doubles smart, with Anaiya staying back on a lot of the points and dominating from the back. They won the first set 4/2. They continued their excellent communication and team work to win the second 4/0. Amazing stuff. Our second pair Saya and Lillian were having a tough battle on the court next door, couldn't quite seem to get their volleys going. They lost the first set 4/2 and were 2/1 down in the second. They switched on and started to relax into the game more to take the second set into a tie break which they won 8-6. Match tie break to follow. Errors made from both teams as they looked a little nervy. Cambs held it together to win 12-10! This gave Cambs an overall win over Yorkshire 5-1, although the matches were much closer than that result suggests!
Overall, Cambridge finished top of the division, only losing 1 rubber all weekend. Congratulations to the team who have qualified for the National Finals on 5th - 7th July at the Nottingham Tennis Centre. A great team effort from all the players and parents involved, some invaluable support. Let's keep this going into the finals.
Jasmine Smith, 11U Girls Captain
