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18th July 2011

Andrew Richardson, Bromley’s head coach and Britain’s former No.3, beat Andrew Davies 6-4, 6-2.

Sean Thornley, playing at number one in Bromley’s line up, overcame Simon Roberts who is ranked 23 in the country 6-3, 6-2.

In his first match for weeks following a serious ankle injury, Bromley’s Matt Illingworth quickly dispatched Chris Parkes 6-2, 6-2 and made it three singles wins for Bromley.

With the weather having turned from beautiful sunshine to consistent drizzle, the American clay courts became unplayable and Bromley would need to win one of their doubles matches indoors to progress to the semi-final.

The first doubles rubber didn’t go to plan with Higgins and Richardson losing their match against Parkes and Davies on a third set match tie-breaker 6-3, 4-6, 0-1(5).

With the match rubber score now at 3-2, the Bromley pairing of Thornley and Illingworth needed a win to avoid a tie-break shoot out to decide the tie. Having won the first set on a tie-break, the Holcombe Brook pairing of Morgan and Roberts levelled the rubber at one set all. Bromley needed to win the third set match tie-break which was very competitive, but Bromley edged the victory 7-6(7), 4-6, 1-0(9).

Bromley’s progression to the semi-finals on Saturday was secure.

Day 2 – Saturday 16th July

With the weather still against them, all the day’s semi finals had to be played indoors. This meant that play would start at 9.30am and it could be a very long day.

Having beaten the number 4 seeds Wrexham LTC the day before, Bromley would play Barry Athletic from Wales.

First on court was Andrew Richardson who had a tough time against Barry’s Farris Gosea. Having lost the first set on a tie-break, the experienced former Davis Cup Player came through to win 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-3.

Next up was Tom Higgins who won his singles against James Hignett 6-4, 6-1.

Matt Illingworth at No.2 made light work of beating Barry’s Daniel Sidaway 6-0, 6-2.

Sean Thornley had more of a battle against Matthew James but came through to win 6-4, 6-3.

Being 4-0 up after the singles, the doubles were effectively dead rubbers and Bromley were through to the Grand Final for the fourth year in a row.

Grand Final – Sunday 17th July

Back outside on the clay at 9.30am, Bromley were to meet the No.1 seeded team of David Lloyd Raynes Park in the final to decide who would be crowned 2011 AEGON Team Tennis National Champions. Andrew Richardson and Tom Higgins were first on court for Bromley.

Richardson was up against James Marsalek from Raynes Park and, despite losing the first set, eventually overcame his much younger opponent 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.

Tom Higgins was drawn against Jamie Feaver who, ranked 817 in the world, proved too strong and went down 6-2, 6-3 to the Raynes Park player. The tie was equal at one all after the first two singles matches.

Bromley’s Sean Thornley and Matt Illingworth were both up next and had very tough opponents indeed.

Illingworth played 20 year old Marcus Willis who is ranked 677 in the world. Having just returned from injury, Illingworth struggled to find form and lost to the Raynes Park player 6-2, 6-1.

In the final singles match of the day Thornley was up against his friend and Wimbledon doubles partner David Rice. Ranked number 8 in the country and 429 in the world, Rice was too strong for Thornley on the day and eased out the match for Raynes Park 6-4, 6-1.

Bromley were 3-1 down after the singles and needed to win both the doubles to take the match into a tie-break shoot out. With the rain setting in the doubles were taken indoors.

Andrew Richardson paired up with Tom Higgins for Bromley against Neil Bamford and Lee Childs, whilst Illingworth and Thornley contested the other doubles against Rice and Willis.

Both matches were very tight with Illingworth and Thornley taking their first set to a tie break. Unfortunately Richardson and Higgins, having incurred a couple of service breaks, were edged out of their match 6-4, 6-4.

Raynes Park had secured the final victory they needed and were now the new National Champions.

Bromley’s Team Captain Rob Searle wasn’t too disheartened after the match. “This has been a tough season for the team and to reach the Grand Final again for the fourth year in succession has been a great achievement by the players. Whilst it is disappointing not to have won a hat trick of successive titles, we were up against a very tough side in David Lloyd Raynes Park today who deserved to be seeded 1 in the finals. We are delighted for them having won their first title in this competition after many attempts, but we only intend this to be on loan for a year”.

Team Principal Charles Baylis was also optimistic. “The players have done remarkably well to finish as runners-up in the championships this year. Having won the title three times and been runners-up twice now, our success in the competition remains unrivalled. This has been a great team effort which includes our supporters from the club and also our local sponsors in and around the Bromley area”.

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