Melton Mowbray Tennis Club ladies’ first team completed the Division One double

The title maintained the team’s top form, having been crowned Summer League champions last year, and made it 10 league titles for the club in only its second season.

Nigel said: “We are still only in our second season, but on the courts the club’s youngsters have performed far and away above any expectations that we had dreamt of.

“Eleven titles in our first year and 10 this year is quite incredible.

“The youngsters have done the club proud, but we cannot forget the wonderful work being achieved off the courts by many of our members and supporters who have donated their time and finance to improve the facility.

“We have a thriving junior section led by head coach Di Burdett, a schools programme lead by Charlotte Griffin, and assisted by Ryan Parmar, and a Tennis Disability project started in 2018 and headed up by Brent Horobin.”

He added: “We are still building on our strengths, but we are still looking to improve in certain areas and have no intention of becoming complacent.

“We are working closely with Melton Council in an effort to rectify the court condition and truly believe that improvements may be just around the corner.”

Ladies’ team skipper Jess Gadsby led the way as they rounded off their season with a commanding 8-0 win over a spirited Rothley Firsts.

The result was enough to clinch the title by two points from Leicestershire A, with Carisbrooke A 10 points further adrift and long-time favourites Loughborough Firsts in fourth.

Against Rothley, Charlotte Griffin and Sarah Diver were in outstanding form, losing just three games in winning their four sets, while Jess with Ellie Jenkins also weighed in with four sets, losing just six games.

Sarah Diver topped the league’s individual statistics with 11 out of 12 wins, with Jess Gadsby in second place with eight wins out of 10.

Corinne Blythe was fifth with seven out of eight, and Ellie Jenkins was seventh with seven out of 12.

Other players involved in taking the title were Sumitra Fox and Carol Gilchrist.

Scores: J. Gadsby/E. Jenkins W 6-0, 6-1; W 6-1, 6-4. C. Griffin/S. Diver W 6-0, 6-2; W 6-0, 6-1.

* Last summer the club’s men took the Division Two Aegon title before collecting a hat-trick of Division One titles in the men’s, ladies’ and mixed categories.

The men’s second team took the Division 4A title, and the mixed second team collected the Division 3B crown.

And going into the Winter Leagues, Melton came out on top in the ladies’ Division One and Division Seven, and the men’s third team took the Division Nine title.

There was also a Junior League win, together with runners-up spots and promotion for the Summer League ladies’ second team in Division 3B, and men’s Winter League second team.