SUE ELSBURY and David May were the big winners at Wokingham Tennis Club’s annual finals day, leaving with five trophies between them.
With 25 participants from across the borough descending on Sadler’s End, competition was fierce with 11 trophies up for grabs.
Fresh from winning the ladies singles title in 2014, Elsbury set about repeating the feat once again, taking to the court for the first match of the day, defeating Cathy Barnes in straight sets, 6-0 6-4, to keep hold of her crown.
But the standard was taken to another level for the men’s singles as May and Kosuke Imamura produced some brilliant tennis in a brilliant contest.
May battled back from 5-6 down to win a first set tie break after a string of long rallies before cruising to take the second set and the match 7-6 6-0 for his second title in as many years.
After a breather following her singles success, Elsbury was soon back on the winning trail.
Competing alongside Vanessa Wait, Elsbury helped herself to a second trophy in the ladies doubles, defeating Barnes and her partner Helen Judd 6-2 6-3.
This was the third year in succession that Elsbury and Wait had won the event.
For the first time all day, a match was forced to a third set decider when Duncan Coles and Mike Childs took on Paul Hancock and Kuki Juric in the men’s doubles.
The two pairs have dominated this event in the last three years, claiming all three titles between them.
Coles and Childs, champions from 2012 and 2013, took the first set 7-5 this time around, only for Hancock and Juric to bounce back to win the second set 6-4 and final set 6-1 to keep hold of their title.
As well as the traditional doubles events, there was also a competition in which pairs were drawn at random, leading to some tight battles.
In the men’s drawn doubles, May added another trophy to his collection alongside Tony Allen as they beat Childs and Tvrtko Ursulin 4-6 6-2 6-3.
As the day drew towards a close in the sunshine at Sadler’s End, in front of club president John Edwards, Elsbury completed a memorable hat-trick.
With the ladies singles and doubles already in the bag, she secured the ladies drawn doubles title. Playing with Joanne Playfair, the pair defeated Judd and Nancy Chipper 6-1 6-3.
There were also some consolation finals with Amy Shepheard and Ursulin taking the singles titles in straight sets against Karen Fowler and Matthew Folliot respectively while Midge Cox and Karen Fowler eased past Polly Thatcher and Elaine Mowbray 6-1 6-1 in the ladies doubles.
Arguably the game of the day came in the consolation men’s doubles. Paul Hancock and Keith Sheppard started well, taking the first set on the tie break, but back came Chris Hartnell and David McCarthy to win 6-7 7-5 10-8.
In the final match of the day, Anne Moses and Paul Hancock saw off the challenge of Karen Fowler and David McCarthy in straight sets.
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