11U Girls County Cup Report
The girls representing Northants at the 11U County Cup event at Loughborough Tennis Club were Emma, Sophia, Mia, Rosalie and Esme. The counties we were played over the two days were Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Staffordshire.
On the first day we had one match v Derbyshire, Mia and Rosalie started us off with their singles, Mia winning in straight sets and Rosalie fighting back from losing the first set to win the second and losing narrowly in the Champions tiebreak, Sophia played well but lost after taking the first set to a tiebreak, Emma lost the first set but won the second 4-0 and just lost a nail biting Champions Tiebreak 10-8. We now needed to win both doubles, Rosalie and Mia won the first 10-6 in the Champions tiebreak after sharing the two sets, unfortunately Sophia and Emma found the Derbyshire pair too strong and we lost the match 4-2.
The first match on the second day was against Leicestershire with the winners fighting it out for third and fourth place in the afternoon. Esme came into the team on the Sunday at number one, with Emma at two, Sophia at three and Mia at four. Excellent performance from all four gave us victories in straight sets in the singles for a 4-0 lead. The Doubles were shared with Esme and Emma winning 14-12 in the Champions Tiebreak and Mia and Rosalie losing 11-9 in the champions tiebreak. This 5-1 victory qualified us to play Staffordshire in the playoff. Mia fought back to win her singles 10-7 in the Champions tiebreak, Sophia and Emma both won in straight sets and Esme won a fine match 10-8 in the champions tiebreak for a 4-0 lead after the singles, Rosalie and Sophia won their doubles in straight sets as did Emma and Esme for a 6-0 victory and a third place finish.
This was an excellent team effort with so many wins in tough, challenging matches. The team spirit was outstanding, with unwavering support from the parents on the sideline who can be so proud of their daughters tennis skills and exemplary behaviour throughout the weekend.
Neil Shorrock, Captain
