Canford Invitational

Ricardo made it through to the final of the Canford Invitatonal, beating Rod McNaughton (6/3 6/2) and World Number 6 Mike Gooding (6/0 5/6 6/1) along the way... Sadly he lost in the final to National League Doubles partner Bryn Sayers (6/1 6/1).

French Open 2008

18th September 2008

Camden Riviere destroyed Ricardo 6/0 6/1 6/1 :) Toby and AJ crashed out of the doubles 6/0 6/2! However chance for revenge tonight Bryn and Ricardo take on Camden and Nick Wood!

French Open 2008

17th Spetember 2008

Aj lost in the first round of the singles 2/6 1/6 2/6.Ricardo and Bryn are through to the doubles semi-finals beating Tom Weaver and Tom Durack 6/0 6/0.

The French Open

16 September 2008 - Results from Ricardo

Toby lost in qualifiers to paio sarlange 6/1 6/1.Aj beat simon marshall 6/1 6/3 to qualify for the french openRicardo is through to the quarter finals with a 6/1 6/3 6/0 win over paio sarlange today.Aj plays peter wright on wednesday at 2pm.

It's official.... Prested Hall are on the map. ( The LRTA one at least)

Wonder if it's programmed into the sat nav yet... the Essex countryside can be mistaken for the Bermuda triangle at times.

Bermuda triangle? Hmmm.... sounds like the Prested pro shop to me. I bet there's loads of stuff that has gone in there and then disappeared without trace...Pell Cup winners take note and guard that trophy with your lives.

You all know by now that I can't resist talking about "that silly game" and Roger is going to have to get used to the words RAFAEL NADAL WORLD NO 1.

Pell Cup Success for Prested!

After a fantastic few days of qualifying at the National Tennis Club, Newport Rhode Island, the division C final of the Pell Cup was contested by the four from Prested Hall. An all English final! Will Stephens and Tim Collins narrowly beat Chris Vigrass and Mike Norgrove in a three set thriller, winning 5-6, 6-4, 6-4.

We're on our way home tomorrow after playing at the Boston real tennis club.......with lots of silver!

Level Doubles Tournament

You are all invited to play in this seasons Level Doubles tournament! It would be great if you could arrange your own pairings - otherwise we will pair you off as we see fit!The draw will be staggered (with the better handicapped pairs coming in later in the draw) so everyone has a realistic chance of progressing...Please confirm you would like to play, and also if you have arranged to play with someone.aj / ricardo

Exhibition Match

As you may be aware we have a doubles exhibtion match coming up on wednesday evening September 10th starting at 7pm. Its £5 per person and its three sets of great tennis! If you haven't already please let us know either way if you can make it on the wednesday evening.Many thanksRicardo/Aj

Kemp Smith Handicap Doubles 2009

On the weekend of January 3rd-4th 2009 we have our annual handicap doubles competition! Now you don't need to have a partner to enter... If you don't please give us your name and we will match you up accordingly! So please let us know if you wish to enter :)Ricardo/Aj

The Wilkinson Trophy

Its that time again! The wilkinson trophy is back! And to those who don't know what this tournament is??? Its our club handicap singles event played throughout the season. Please ask the pro's for further details.....Can you reply and let us knowif you wish to enter :)Ricardo/Aj

Pell Cup

VT, Bond, Stepehnson and TC are off to Newport Rhode Island tomorrow to take part in the Pell Cup. We'll keep you posted on our performance!

Ladies Morning...

I'd just like to say "Thanks" for the rather nice prize I won in the Ladies morning draw on Thursday.



Hic... shlurp...mmmm. (:

It would be nice to see a few more ladies playing regularly...

C'mon you lot, we can't let the men have it ALL their own way.

The new (Lawn tennis - aka "that silly game" ) World No 1 is....

RAFAAAAAAAAAAAA!!

Move over Roger, the new King is about to be crowned.

Rob Fahey better watch out, Roger Federer has been known to hit a Real Tennis ball or two. Wouldn't mind betting Roger has a fairly useful handicap too.

A severe beating....

Well everyone gets a thrashing at some stage... and it was my turn (again) on Friday. The scoreline was something like this - 5/6 0/6 0/6 - and I did wonder what the heck happened! Maybe I fell asleep/went walkabout/lost the plot, or a combination of the 3.

The only thing that saved the day, was my growing repertoire of serves (can't think who taught me those...) and the odd volley return of serve. Very odd, yes... I must be the only person who can hit 3 volleys in succession off the racket frame.

But you know what? Losing is not the end of the world. (Oh ok it is really) Real Tennis is a great game and I just love to play.

I can't finish this post without mentioning that Rafael Nadal gave Andy Murray another bashing in Toronto this week.... As I write, Rafa has just won the Toronto Masters and is almost level with a certain Mr Federer in World ranking points. If Federer loses in Cincinati quarters AND Rafa wins the tournament, then Rafa will be No 1 by the US Open.

(Couldn't resist that... I'd love to see Rafa play Real Tennis - I'd hate to be the one to tell him you can't topspin a Real Tennis ball....)

See you all soon

Ian Vigrass and David Hunter beat the pros 10/8! 3 wins from 3 for the Vigrass/Hunter combo....... Surely a matter of time before they go top?

Summer Doubles Update

Defending champions Claire Vigrass and Peter Holmes today took on Ian Vigrass and David Hunter in the latest Summer League Doubles match. Claire's match preperations were unorthadox, instead of the usual routine of stretching and jogging she spent half an hour slumped on the ProShop sofa... Sounds like my kind of warm-up :)

However, her 'PowerNap' proved unsuccessful as Ian and David made the most of the handicap they recieved and romped to a 10/5 victory. The match was full of some fantastic tennis from both sides - a clip of which can be seen here... To set the scene, Ian and David are defending a better than 1 yard chase...

Summer Doubles League

David Hunter/Ian Vigrass started their summer league campaign with a huge 10/3 win over Tony Blake and Tim Collins!! They leap into the playoffs!

Summer Doubles Result

After a tight close match last night (cough cough) JLR and Will Stephens climbed out of the wooden spoon position with a 10/3 win over Hills/Vigrass.





Praise the Lord that JLR didn't play like a complete donkey again last night!

Summer Doubles League - Frustration prevails!

"Its not my fault if my partner couldn't hit a cows arse with a banjo :-)"

Thanks JLR!

Will

PS the feeling was mutual!

Summer Doubles League - Its a close one!

Last night's classic! Hills/Vigrass beat Mead/Lodge 10/9! 9 All 40-40 match ball!

Ten Years of Real Tennis at Prested Celebrations

Real Tennis will have been at Prested Hall for ten years in Spring 2009 (exact date is in some dispute!). Plans are now afoot to celebrate this fact sometime next year.

There is a working group, now known as the Tenth Anniversary Celebration 2009 working group, TACTWG, and the members are Brian Eaton, Will Stephens, Tim Collins, Kate Evers, Alix Barfett, AJ and Gael Vigrass. Mike Carter and Ricardo will aslo inevitably be very involved in the process.

If you have any views or suggestions in connection with the celebrations, please feel free to speak to any of the TACTWG!

Watch this space for developments.

Summer Doubles League Update

We have new leaders at the top of the table! Wilko and Mitchell played (and beat!) JLR and Stephens 10/5 last night. After romping to an 8/0 lead - and with the bagel looming - JLR and Stephens won 5 of the next 6, but could not stop Wilko and Mitchell from clinching the victory...

Wimbledon 2008

Hello from Wimbledon! I know Lawn Tennis is generally described as "that silly game" but there are one or two decent players. (Ok, one, then... )
Second match on Centre court Tuesday 24th June - you get the picture.

That's it for now, more from Wimbledon on Friday/Saturday if you want to hear about it... and if you don't? Too bad!! (;