D'Hauessy and Mayes rewarded during the storm

STORM Ciaran had a devastating effect on this week’s tennis with a lot of matches rained off. Amazingly, four Mixed pairs did play in the wind and rain.

- DAVE AND SUE GALE

Up for the award for playing in the worst conditions most players have faced are Stephanie D’Haussy and Alan Mayes, who took on Tania Belcher and Jason Whiteley. The match was dry for about 20 minutes but, miraculously, none of them gave up and most of the match was played in atrocious weather.

Despite both Tania and Jason “throwing” their racquets onto the court due to wet grips, they all managed to keep smiling. Stephanie and Alan coped best and won 6-1, 6-1, 6-1.

Rivalling the mixed pairing above for playing the wettest Winter League match so far was Alice Wildgoose and Gary Brookes playing Emma Stephens and Wesley Waring and the wind made for an interesting game.

Serving was almost impossible as they were blinded with the rain in their eyes. Gary was determined to hold onto the racquet for as long as possible so his grip didn’t get wet but, by the end, nothing was dry.

Despite the rain dripping off their noses, Alice and Gary won 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 and socks were duly wrung out when players got home.

Also playing in the wind and rain were Roanna George and Lawrence Nortier against Nicky Slight and Dave Bate. Good serving from the men, especially Dave, who played well with an injured hand.

There were hard and fast crosscourt exchanges with some excellent volleying from Roanna which made the difference overall as Roanna and Lawrence won 6-4, 6-0, 6-3.