John Dunningham Trophy

John Dunningham Trophy

Venue: NTC, Roehampton

Date: 01/10/2022

Result: IC beat LTA  8 - 4

 

We had a fantastic day being hosted by the LTA at the National Tennis Centre for the John Dunningham Trophy. The IC won this trophy for the first time in 2021 and we were determined to defend it this year so we were ready with a very strong team.

 

The first round of singles were incredibly tight with Pippa Horn losing a 3rd set tie break to Arabella Loftus 10-2. This match was filled with long rallies, crafty play and was good fun to watch.

 

On the next court Katie Morris found herself in a 3rd set tie break as well but managed to dig deep and get the better of Sophia Kovacheva 10-7 and get the first point on the board for the IC.

 

It was a more straightforward start for the men playing on the clay, with both Kai Luca Ampaw and John Thompson getting straight sets wins on the board. Kai beat Arthur Attrill 6-3 6-2 and John took the win over Zechariah Hamrouni 6-2 6-4.

 

The next round of singles matches required a late change for the IC team as Lucy Brown picked up a leg injury, but fortunately Katy Dunne was training at the NTC and was keen to replace Lucy for the singles. Katy won her singles match in double quick time beating Eloise Newberry 6-2 6-1. The final women's singles was another straight sets win for the IC with Emily Arbuthnott beating Isabelle Britton 6-3 6-3.

 

Back in the clay court bubble Tim Sagur raced to a comfortable victory over Charlie Swain 6-2 6-1. Jamie Muirhead was getting stuck into a very competitive match narrowly losing to Angus Howard 10-5 in the final set tie break.

 

This meant that with the singles matches complete the IC was leading the LTA 6-2.

 

The IC team were full of confidence heading into the doubles only needing one more rubber to win the trophy. 3 of the doubles matches went to a 3rd set with the LTA team of Eloise Newberry and Sophia Kovacheva getting the better of Pippa Horn and Katie Morris 10-7 in the 3rd.

 

The LTA boys also took a victory with Charlie Swaine and Angus Howard just clinching the first set tie break 13-11 and then the final set tie break 10-5 over Tim Sagur and Jamie Muirhead. 

Kai Ampaw and John Tompson won a topsy turvy match 10-1 in the 3rd set against Arthur Atrill and Zechariah Hamrouni and the team of Emily Arbuthnott and Lucy Brown really stamped their authority beating Isabelle Britton and Arabella Loftus 6-0 6-4.

 

Overall it meant that the IC successfully defended the John Dunningham Trophy and had a great day of really competitive high quality tennis. My thanks to Katie O'Brien and Martin Weston for hosting us and creating a competitive but positive environment for the match.

Match Report by Naomi Cavaday (John Dunningham Match Manager)