12 Counties 10U Boys Report

This was the team’s first of many likely outings with me (as captain of the 10U, 11U and 12U boys teams).

The 12 counties saw us pitched first up against Notts, who proved to be the strongest opposition of the day. 

Alfie played an excellent opponent at number 1. In the first set Alfie’s error rate was a little high to be competitive, but Alfie showed more belief in his own game, and his ability to hang in rallies at high tempo in the second set. Despite defeat, this really was a springboard for some impressive tennis from Alfie for the rest of the day. 

He was ruthless against Beds with a 4-0 4-0 win and then destroyed the Essex number 1 4-1 4-1 putting us in touching distance of second place in a tough group.

Konstantin at number 2 gave his Notts opponent a real scare before going down 5-3 4-1. Like Alfie he seemed to draw confidence from a good performance, going on to win comfortably against Beds and, despite a loss against Essex, was 50/50 in nearly all aspects of the game. Konstantin’s 1st serve and back hand cross court were standout shots.

Seb at number 3 took his Notts opponent to 3 sets with a great turnaround after losing the opening set 4-0. He then earned a hard fought win against Beds, before perhaps running out of puff against Essex? Seb showed a really promising all round game. His dropshots were at times a really successful change up and he demonstrated a good ability to make his opponent run when in charge of the rallies.

David at number 4 had an interesting day. He was a little overawed initially, but as with all the boys against the strong Notts team did grow as the match went on, raising his consistency level and starting to get comfortable in the environment. He carried that developing confidence into the Beds match, which really was a rollercoaster. David joined the other boys with a win on the day in a 3 set thriller, sealing a 4-0 triumph against Beds for us. The Essex bar was a little too high for him – leaving Northants with a 3-1 defeat there, finishing a creditable third in the group, with much tennis still ahead of the team this year!

Justin Chacksfield, Captain