2009 – 2010

Men’s Captain: Kristopher Cawood

MEN’S LAWN TENNIS REPORT

It was a successful season for the Queen’s Tennis Club, as promotion to the top tier of college tennis was secured by the first team, and the second team retained their place in the second division. There was a real depth of quality on display, so that even the absence of the once again magnificent Tom Bowden for the latter half of the season was unable to derail the journey to the title. The emergence of fresher talents Matt Green, Andrew Robertson, Jamie Brandwood and Rob Farenden to support the experience of Todor Todorov and Dan Easterman made Queen’s a force to be reckoned with. An advantage of having the first and second team in the same division was the chance to allow members of the teams to form partnerships for the rest of the season.

In the league, Trinity were swept aside, while Hertford will be having nightmares for a long time, having failed to win a set against Queen’s in 24 attempts. The one disappointment came in the first round of Cuppers, when a Queen’s team missing both members of its first choice pair dragged itself to the point of victory before falling to a 5-4 defeat by a strong Magdalen side. An improved showing in Cuppers will be a high priority for new captain, Matt Green.

Women’s Captain: Rebecca Harding

WOMEN’S LAWN TENNIS REPORT

The level of interest in college tennis this year, and the fact that many players would be unavailable for key matches as a result of Finals Examinations, meant that Queen’s tennis focussed all its efforts on a strong performance in Cuppers. The first match against Trinity was won convincingly, with particularly strong performances from two couples, Caroline Lawrence and Gitanjali Patel, and Claire Durrans and Yasmina Borhani. The third round match against Worcester was a significant challenge. This produced a tough performance from both pairs, with Olivia Orr and Raluca Petre contesting the match especially keenly, but sadly resulted in a defeat and Queen’s exit from the tournament.