Major upsets at Rye tennis
The first day of the Rye Open Tennis Tournament saw some major upsets with a number of the highest-ranked international players crashing out in the first round of the men's singles.
Among those to fall by the wayside were Mark Hadley (New Zealand) and Alfredo Caturano (Italy).
This left the field open for a new men's singles champion to emerge in the person of David Chambers, a county player from Lincolnshire who beat Peter Dowdeswell (Zimbabwe) 6-4, 7-5 in the semi-final before going on to overwhelm James Acheson-Gray (Queens Club) 6-3, 6-2 in the final.
The results in the ladies' singles were more predictable but the eventual winner had to see off strong opposition including two players who between them had won the Rye title a total of 11 times.
Reigning World ladies' seniors singles champion Anthea Stewart beat eight times Rye champion Frances Candy 6-4, 6-3 in the semi-final and then went on to defeat defending champion Arabella Martin 6-2, 6-1 in the final. This was Stewart's first appearance at the Rye tournament.
In the men's doubles, the North Kent pairing of Rupert North and Sam Peace beat Hadley and Andrew Bretherton (Queens Club) in a closely contested final, 6-4, 6-7, 10-8.
The ladies' doubles was won by a mother and daughter pairing from Cooden Beach Tennis Club in Bexhill. Jane and Becky Nash - both tennis coaches - beat Alexandra Kirkjian (Armenia) and Annabel Watson (Kent) 6-4, 7-5 in another close final.
The mixed doubles saw a further loss for Hadley as in partnership with ladies' singles runner-up Martin they were undone 7-5, 7-6 by Dowdeswell and Katie Purnell (London).
The tournament was interrupted for two or three hours of rain on Saturday but play was extended by starting early and finishing late the following day which permitted the final match to be completed at 7pm on Monday.
The action continues this week at the Military Road venue with further events in the Rye Tennis Festival including the Junior Tournament which concludes on Friday, the Closed Tournament on Saturday and the Mixed Doubles Tournament on Sunday.
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Weather for St Leonards-on-Sea
Sunday 05 February 2012
Today
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