SUMMER EVENT

We are accustomed over the last year, to see our leading player, Jonathan Eysseric, between his great world tournament efforts, practising his hard-hitting tennis on Centre Court,  but yesterday involved a special surprise. 

Fresh from his successes at Wimbledon, Benoît Paire, at present number 27 in the World ATP ranking,  gave us a short demonstration of how he hits the ball.   A crowd of tennis-stage pupils watched carefully to see what they hoped to be doing one day in the future.

The demonstration continued between these two high-level players, using the vigorous practice scheme known as 'short tennis'. A point starts with one player holding a ball on the top of the net, & then letting it fall........... Movement of both players is rapid from this moment on.  Each in turn tries to put the ball as far from the opponent as possible & in the most inaccessible spot in the limits of the service areas.  Hard-hitting is out in this game:  it is a battle of dexterity, precision, & delicacy of touch.  Also, as this was played on clay court, long slides were necessary to arrive at the far distant places!  Here's one of them:

And now look carefully at the two players in action:

You get the idea!  Well make sure you try it out one of these days!

Many players & friends were watching by the time the demonstration finished, here's a good collection of those that had been on court:

And finally, Jonathan & Benoît, relaxing with a game of boules.

 (pétanque to you southeners):

And don't forget the summer event next Saturday, posted to you 

separately & to the ladies in particular.

OPEN TOURNAMENT

 The Club Open Tournament finished on time today with Finals in the numerous categories. The most spectacular match was, of course, the Open Men's Final: the two highest classified players (-2/6) had been eliminated in the semi-finals the day before, leaving young Lucas (1/6) against Mathieu (0). The struggle was hard, but the elder player won in two sets.

 New traditions were set up, in that this final was played on terre battue rather than on hard court, & that it was scheduled for 9 am, rather than in the afternoon. This arrangement proved eminently suitable, as all matches were completed before lunch, & the prize-giving ceremony still gave time for some welcome refreshment for players & spectators alike.

To give those unable to attend the morning's events some taste of the proceedings, here first, is a photo of the winner, Mathieu, looking at his new acquisition with some surprise:

Olivier adjusts his tennis cap before meeting the Lady Champion - who we are credibly informed, is of English origin !

Numerous Junior categories were provided for, & here is a photo showing several of the young champions :

A photo of the winners together with the organisers shows what a happy crowd they were:

Finally, the man who worked out all those draws, courts & times; our Technical Manager, Didier Eysseric................ apparently making off with several cups !

He surely deserves them, you will say;  but now back to more tennis for all those members who were not competitors.  We look forward to seeing you all back on court. 

Bon tennis & bonnes parties !