The Chronicle 682

51 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

Boys’ Tennis The boys, too, had a very good pre-season with the introduction of some strong players, including Noah Roussel, Leo-Paul de Beco and Ludwig Arnsperger. They worked hard on fitness and technical skills and this put them in a good place for the start of the season. Their first fixture of the year was against a strong Marlborough side. The first round saw an epic battle for our first seeds Leo-Paul de Beco and Alex Sharman who narrowly lost 6-7 to Marlborough’s third seeds which showed what we were up against. There were good performances by captain Anton Myachin and his partner Noah Roussel who beat Marlborough’s first and third pair with excellent net play and solid ground strokes. They narrowly missed out on a clean sweep losing to their opposing seeds 6-7. All matches were very close but unfortunately we lost 7-2 overall. A trip up to the Midlands gave our 1st VI their first win of the season. As the sun shone on the green courts of Rugby, the boys rose to the challenge and put in a superb performance. There were wins for all pairings. Leo-Paul de Beco and Alex Sharman won all of their sets 6-3, Noah Roussel and Ludwig Arnsperger only lost two games in their three matches winning, 6-1, 6-1, 6-0 and the strong Kendall pairing of Anton Myachin and Josh Thomas won their three matches convincingly. The banks of the River Itchen were the perfect setting for another great afternoon of tennis. A closely fought match with excellent tennis from both sides saw Winchester narrowly win 5-4. It was very tight and could have gone either way. It took a while for our boys to get into their stride but an impressive debut in the 1st VI from Arthur Manson helped secure his maiden win 6-3 against the opposing seeds. It was, however, the inspirational and stellar performances from our first seeds Noah Roussel and Ludwig Arnsperger that almost brought home the win for St Edward’s. They won all their matches 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. The next fixture was a very long and successful sunny afternoon of excellent tennis at MCS, mostly played on grass courts. The boys played well against three of the best tennis schools in the area. The first opponent was Radley, who were the eventual winners. Most matches were very close (many 3-5) with two 4-4 draws (Noah Roussel in the singles and Anton Myachin and Arthur Manson in the doubles), and two strong wins (6-2) by Leo- Paul de Beco and Arthur Manson. At the end

Leo-Paul de Beco

the score was 42 to 54 games, a good result considering the strength of the opponent. We then played against Abingdon and the boys achieved a very solid victory (65 to 31 games), with two 8-0 (JJ Orr-Ewing and Alex Sharman in singles) and a 6-2 (Zac Orr-Ewing) and many 5-3. Finally, with the temperature hitting 26 degrees, we played MCS. It was a very close match, which we lost 46 to 50 games. There were four wins and two draws out of eight matches in the singles (Arthur Manson won 6-2, Ludwig Arnsperger and Zac Orr-Ewing 5-3). In the doubles MCS stepped up their game, but we still managed to achieve a 6-2 victory by Anton Myachin and Arthur Manson and a draw by Ludwig Arnsperger and Noah Roussel. Teddies Mixed Doubles Championships On the last Tuesday of term, the senior boys and girls played in a mixed doubles competition. Molly Spencer and Anton Myachin did a fantastic job of organising two separate tournaments – one for First Pairs

and one for Second Pairs. With unfamiliar playing partners and new match balls, the stage was set for a competitive afternoon of tennis … and what a fantastic contest it proved to be across both groups. In the First Pairs tournament there was some excellent tennis on show from all pairings. There were some particularly strong performances from Howard, Hall and Sharman. In the end though, Lily Ainsleigh Jones and Noah Roussel scored the winning points at crucial times which made all the difference and earned them the overall victory. In the Second Pairs there was also some quality tennis. With some powerful baseline play and long rallies, the competition was very close - with many pairings finishing tied on the same final points tally. Special mention to the winners Holroyd and Morgan who went above and beyond to secure victory in their group. It was an afternoon of entertaining and competitive tennis all round. The Haribo mixed doubles champions were: 1st Pairs, Lily Ainsleigh Jones and Noah Roussel; and 2nd Pairs, India Holroyd and Henry Morgan.