11U Girls County Cup Report
The girls representing Northants at the U11 County Cup event at Caunton Tennis Club were Kamilah, Olivia, Ellie, Matilda and Bella. The counties we played over the two days were, Leicestershire, Durham and Cleveland and Staffordshire.
On the first day we had one match v Leicestershire, Matilda and Ellie started us off with their singles, Matilda winning in straight sets 4-1,4-3 and Ellie fighting back from losing the first set to win the second and losing narrowly in the Champions tiebreak 11-9. Olivia and Kamilah were our next two singles players, Olivia at two had tremendous battle and won the first set on a tiebreak 7-4, lost the second and prevailed in the deciding match tiebreak 10-8 to put us 2-1 up, Kamilah had a tough match at one against a tricky opponent who was too consistent and went down 4-2,4-2. The match would be decided on the doubles, Kamilah and Olivia combined very well to win 4-1,4-0 but Bella and Ellie found their opponents too strong losing 4-0,4-2. The match would be decided by a tiebreak shootout, Kamilah and Bella came together to edge a nervous battle 10-8 to give us a hard fought victory.
The second day started with a match against Durham and Cleveland who had also beaten Leicestershire on a tie break shootout the day before. Bella came into the singles at four losing to a strong opponent, Matilda at three showed incredible fortitude after losing the first set 4-1 to win the second on a tiebreak 7-5 and completing the victory 10-8 in the final set tiebreak. Ellie and Kamilah found life tough against very strong opponents and we were 3-1 down after the singles. Bella and Kamilah could not repeat their form from the previous day and lost at one, Ellie and Matilda found their opponents too strong and the match finished 5-1.
Our final match was against Staffordshire playing for third or fourth place. Bella started us off with a fine victory 4-2,4-1, Matilda had yet another marathon and after winning the first 7-5 in the tiebreak losing the second set and the match tiebreak, Ellie and Kamilah could not get the better of their opponents and we were again 3-1 down after the singles. Kamilah and Bella gave us fresh hope by winning their doubles 4-1,4-2 to make it 3-2, it was down to Ellie and Matilda to get us into a tie break shootout for third place, but after a commendable performance they lost both sets in tiebreaks to concede a 4-2 defeat and fourth place.
Special praise to Matilda who had a nasty fall before our first match on the Saturday and we had to steri strip a cut on her left hand followed by copious bandages but she got through five matches afterwards and was determined to represent the county with such pride and commitment.
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
