Former Olympic rower hits back to win tie-break on Henley men’s debut

HENLEY Tennis Club had a mixed bags of results with the mixed team, women’s doubles and men’s side all in action.

Henley’s men’s A team of Max Miles-Thomas, Matt Hallam, Gordon Stoddart and debutant ex-Olympic rower Matt Langridge ran out 5-3 winners in their Oxfordshire Winter League Division 1 clash at Oxford Health and Racquets Club A on their indoor courts last Sunday.

Miles-Thomas and Hallam won all four sets to earn four points, with Stoddart and Langridge winning the decisive set 7-6 in a tie-break having been 5-1 down.

In the mixed team event, the Henley side of Levi McAndrew-Brown, Jess Craig, Ana Roberts Banciu and James Cudd went down to a 3-1 defeat against visitors Shinfield 2nds in their Berkshire League Division 7 clash.

In a closely fought encounter, unusually every single rubber went to a championship tie-break.

Roberts Banciu and Cudd led the charge, battling hard against Shinfield’s big-hitting first pair. After splitting sets (4-6, 6-1), they just missed out in the deciding tie-break. Their second match was close too, with match point at 9-8 in the tie-break before narrowly losing (2-6, 6-3, lost tie-break). McAndrew-Brown and Craig fell just short against Shinfield’s second pair (3-6, 6-4, lost tie-break), but turned things around in their next match. Digging deep and showing good resilience, they defeated the visitors’ first pair 6-4, 2-6, and clinched the championship tie-break.

At Bradfield Tennis Centre, Henley’s women’s doubles team went down to a 3-1 defeat in their Berkshire Winter League Division 8 encounter in challenging conditions on real clay courts strewn with autumn leaves.

The first Henley pair of Ana Roberts Banciu and Pam Saker fought hard against a strong first Bradfield pair, with long rallies and close games that made the 2-6, 2-6 scoreline seem harsh.

Against Bradfield’s second pair, the Henley pair stormed through the first set 6-2 before being pegged back 3-6 in the second. A tense deciding tie-break saw Henley narrowly miss out after leading 7-5, ending in a narrow defeat.

It was a debut outing for Rowan Hampson, partnering Jess Craig as the second Henley pair. After a tough start against Bradfield’s second pair (1-6, 4-6), the Henley duo grew in confidence throughout the day and their determination paid off in their second match: after losing the first set to Bradfield’s top pair, they bounced back to take the second 6-2 and win the deciding tie-break.