National Open Level Singles Championships - Category D for 30-39 Handicaps - 2025

Once again Hatfield played host to the Category D 30-39 Handicap Singles event last weekend and as is usually the case the event was split into 2 sections 30-34 and 35-39 handicap and with 10 players in each section and a maximum of 4 points between the best and worst players in each section, it promised to be a very entertaining weekend of tennis.

Play started on the Friday for the first time in a few years and with a sign of things to come we had 2 very tight 3 set matches with Philip Shaw-Hamilton of Moreton Morrell battling past Chris Lintott of Oxford 2/6 6/4 6/5 and Hatfield's Martin Richards also coming from behind to beat Graham Defries of Queens 5/6 6/4 6/3 to take their places in the Quarter-Finals.

A bumper day of tennis started at 9am on Saturday morning with the first of 10 matches taking place and as expected pretty much all were very close matches. The pick of the matches in the 30-34 section included Philip Shaw-Hamilton backing up his first round win with an excellent 2/6 6/2 6/2 over number 1 seed Faustas Vilimas of Middlesex, Nick Brodie of Hatfield coming from a set down to beat Stephen Doel of Cambridge 4/6 6/3 6/4 and probably the match of the day in either section, Patrick Lawrence of Queens beating Mark Rayner of Hatfield 6/4 4/6 6/5 in a fantastic battle that swung one way and then the other throughout. In the 35-39 section the standout matches on Saturday were undoubtedly a very tight tussle between Simon Talbot-Williams of MCC and Lucas Garvin of Queens, with Simon coming out on top 6/4 2/6 6/3 in a highly entertaining and good quality match and another extremely close battle as Dan Worboys of Prested, who had already had one tight match earlier in the day, managed a very impressive 6/5 2/6 6/5 win over number 1 seed Johnny Borrell, in a match of contrasting styles that was impossible to call until the last point had been played! Credit to all the players on Saturday for a great day's tennis, especially to those playing towards the end of the day as we were unfortunately running 3 hours behind schedule by the time the last match, another 3 setter obviously, went on court!

So this took us to Sunday and the 4 Semi-Finals and 2 Finals to find this year's champions. The first match in the 35-39 bracket saw Dan Worboys take on the fast improving Izzy Marshall of Oxford and unfortunately for Dan this is where his excellent run came to an end. Dan got off to a strong start in both sets, leading 2/0 in the first set and 3/0 in the second set but it was Izzy who ended both sets the stronger winning the match 6/2 6/4 although it was closer than that suggests and a few bits of luck here and there going the other way could have made a big difference. The second match of the day would decide who Izzy would meet in the final and it was yet another 3 set match to decide it as Simon Talbot-Williams yet again managed to get over the line in a tight 3 set match, this time against Minty Oldham of Hampton Court 6/2 3/6 6/4 in a very high quality match from start to finish.

The first Semi-Final in the 30-34 section saw 2 of the players who had battled through marathon wins on Saturday, Philip Shaw-Hamilton and Patrick Lawrence do battle. It was Philip who started the stronger, edging ahead until the scores got to 4/4 but from that moment on Patrick managed to take control, closing out a very tight set 6/4 and moving 5/0 up in the second before finally closing it out 6/1. That score in no way does Philip justice though as even the second set was a lot tighter than that, with most games being lengthy deuce games, it was just Patrick who kept taking the crucial points. The second Semi-Final was between Mark Crowley of Oxford vs Nick Brodie and despite some very tight games at the start of the set, Mark took it in fairly comprehensive fashion 6/1, before Nick staged a fightback to move ahead in the second set and for a while it looked like yet another 3 set battle was on the cards. Mark managed to claw his way back to 4/4 though and after 2 very tight games, closed the set out 6/4 to take his place in the final against Patrick.

So to the 2 finals and we started with the 35-39 bracket and 2 players who had got there via very different routes. Izzy Marshall for the loss of only 10 games from her 2 matches and Simon Talbot-Williams who had battled through 2 very tight 3 set matches to make it to the final so Izzy rightly started the match as the favourite despite Simon being vastly more experienced. Izzy very much lived up to the favourite billing, hitting the grille with stunning regularity as well as defending the dedans and retrieving with superb consistency. Simon did nothing wrong and fought back well in both sets but Izzy is a fast improving player and will more than likely be bypassing the 30-34 bracket next year with a handicap more in the 20's if she continues this progress. Izzy eventually won 6/4 6/2 in a high quality and highly entertaining final in which Simon more than played his part.

The final match of the event was the 30-34 final and the finalists had a very similar profile to the 35-39 bracket. Mark Crowley had made it to the final with 2 impressive 2 set wins, against home players too, to start as firm favourite against Patrick Lawrence, who had made it through his Quarter-Final by one game before his hard fought Semi-Final win earlier in the day. It initially looked like the form book would be proven right again as Mark moved into a 3/0 lead in the first set, playing with great control and Patrick possibly being a little stiff after his 2 tough matches. Whether Patrick loosened up or Mark lost a little of his control but Patrick gradually started clawing his way back into it moving back to 2/3 before Mark reasserted to move 4/2 ahead. Patrick was right in it by this stage though and moved from 2/4 down to 5/4 up and then followed a crucial, marathon game of 5 deuces and numerous changes of end, before finally on his 3rd set point Patrick managed to blast a return of serve into the dedans when having to beat chase better than 1 to close out the set. After sharing the first couple of games, the second set started in similar fashion to the first as Mark moved into a 4/2 lead before Patrick made it 3/4, this time however Mark was not to be denied and he closed the second set out 6/3 to take us to the almost inevitable deciding set. In what had already been a gruelling match, at 2/1 to Patrick the players had a ridiculous game involving 7 deuces and numerous changes of end before Mark finally closed it out to level it 2/2. It felt like that could be crucial as Patrick finally seemed to be tiring slightly after all his efforts but 2 more shared games to make it 3/3 showed he wasn't going to go quietly! Mark though was definitely looking the stronger of the 2 players and moved into a 5/3 lead, just one game away from the title. Still Patrick wouldn't give up though, clawing one game back to 5/4 but finally Mark managed to finish the match, after nearly 2 & 1/2 hours of intense tennis, to take a much deserved title after a truly fantastic match!