Hamilton Tennis Club: Jessi completes hat-trick of titles

Jessi was on top form to win the final despite a valiant effort by Emily Harrison.

The other main events have all reached the final stages after some tight tussles along the way.

The finalists in the men’s doubles will be Andy Douglas and Joe Jackson against Mike Crane and Jimmi Cox.

The mixed doubles saw defending champions Joe Jackson and Emily go through to the final to face Ciaran Boylan and Jessi Jackson, while the ladies’ final will pit Emily Harrison and Margaret against the family pairing of Jan and Jessi Jackson.

The competition for places in the men’s singles final was very close, with Andy Douglas going through unbeaten.

Ciaran Boylan claimed the other place after a countback on wins and games against last year’s champion Jimmi Cox who has made a late run into form following a long injury lay-off.

The veterans’ championships served up some nail-biting victories.

Steve Thompson and Mark Ashman clinched their spot in the men’s doubles final by beating Edwin Shufflebotham and Selwyn Carter.

The other semi went to a tie-break where Graham Brown and Barrie Farnsworth saw off last season’s champions Doug Hacking and Jeremy Siddall.

The final was even closer as Steve and Mark saved two match points on the way to a winning tie-break against Graham and Barrie.

The ladies’ doubles produced some equally tense matches.

Defending champions Margaret Heggs and Polly Dolby defeated Lesley Greaves and Cindy Coulter in the first semi-final, while Rosie Gildove and Margaret Roskell had a very tough match to ease past Jan Jackson and Margaret Shufflebotham.

In the final, Rosie and Margaret built up an early lead against Margaret and Polly, but could not hold on, and were ultimately pleased to take the match to a tie-break.

Some very long, close rallies ensued and the match was eventually decided on a sudden-death point which Margaret and Polly won with an excellent serve on the final point.

* On the league scene, one of the few remaining Summer League matches saw Hamilton’s mixed fourth team of Graham Hall and Eileen Merrison, Steve Plaistow and Lesley Greaves, and Jan Jackson with Edwin Shufflebotham travel to David Lloyd Thirds.

They returned home to Melton with a 9-0 defeat against the division’s top team, with Steve and Lesley narrowly missing out on a consolation set after losing a tie-break.