Wallenberg Trophy 2023

Wallenberg Trophy

Venue: Amiens, France

Dates: 24-26th February 2023

Result: GB place 3rd

 

This year's staging of the Wallenberg trophy took place in the picturesque town of Amiens in northern France. The Great Britain team of David Collins, Teresa Catlin, Natasha Starling and Hugh Jaques came into the event with high hopes given that Great Britain had won the previous two instalments of this prestigious IC council event. Due to the last minute withdrawal of the Swedish team Great Britain faced a team from Germany and two teams from France to ensure a full schedule of play. The indoor clay courts were playing relatively slow but GB felt confident given their track record. Day one saw us take on the French 1st team, this proved to be a keenly fought encounter with David winning an excellent singles in three sets and Teresa and Natasha narrowly losing out to highly ranked opponents. Hugh lost out against a very strong opponent which left Great Britain 3-1 down going into the mixed doubles. Two more narrow losses consigned the team to a 5-1 defeat which was disappointing as the result could very easily have been quite different. After a fascinating tour around the picturesque centre of Amiens and a delightful evening meal, battle was joined again on day two for the 3rd 4th place play off. This time Team GB made no mistake coming through as convincing 5-1 winners over the French second team with some strong displays all round including an outstanding volleying display by Jaques and Starling in the mixed  doubles, guiding the ball into the spaces with titanium wrists! 

Meanwhile in the other fixture Germany narrowly beat the French A team to secure the Wallenberg trophy. Many thanks to our hosts the IC of France for an excellent few days of tennis and for their hospitality. Special thanks also to captain David Collins for leading the team with his customary panache.