Lancaster’s tennis efforts got off to a bad start as York won all six of the matches in the mixed doubles.
Players on both sides were hampered by strong winds which frequently blew the ball off course.
However, it was the York teams who dealt better with the conditions, winning all matches easily; all were won in straight sets and no set was particularly strongly contested.
Lancaster’s first pair, Craig White and Amy Christie, lost their match 6-2 6-0. Their opponents played a very good match, working well together as a pair. Both were strong serve-and-volleyers, knowing when to aim the ball in between the Lancaster players and when to hit it out to the sides.
The majority of points played were very short, mainly due to the high winds. One of the only long rallies of the game came in the second set as Lancaster were serving at 0-3 down. There were some excellent shots played but York eventually took the point to go 15-40 up.
After the match, both Mr White and Ms Christie commented on the weather, saying that the standard of tennis would have been better without the wind blowing balls out. However, they pointed out that conditions were the same for both sides and added that although they had lost they had thoroughly enjoyed playing.
Lancaster University Tennis Club President Cai Halliday, who lost his match 6-0 6-3, agreed, saying that it was all about having fun and trying hard.
The matches were self-refereed, with players keeping the score themselves.
The final scores were as follows:
First Pair: 6-2 6-0
Second Pair: 6-0 6-1
Third Pair: 6-2 6-0
Fourth Pair: 6-1 6-1
Fifth Pair: 6-0 6-3
Sixth Pair: 6-1 6-0
