Juniors triumph !!!

Egan Seals Memorable Quartet

The recently completed Eastbourne Grass Court Junior Tennis Tournament proved to be very successful for a small contingent of members from Horley Lawn Tennis Club. One particular Horley member, Sam Egan, stood out from the rest; he not only reached four finals but unbelievably won these four finals also. Egan’s return of four victories in four finals is impressive enough, but his performance during the week long tournament was so comprehensive that he did not drop a set in any match he participated in.

Egan’s incredible feat started with the capture of the 14 and under Parent/Child competition. This first final was achieved with father Kevin after beating the Brimley family. The second instalment of Egan’s quartet was the 15 and under Boys Doubles and was secured with another talented youngster from Horley Lawn Tennis Club, James Bothwell. The Horley duo started this match encouragingly as a break of serve gave them a healthy 4-1 lead, however this was whittled down by the opposition and eventually Egan and Bothwell edged the first set 7-5. This seemed to inflict a psychological blow on their counterparts as the second set was easily won 6-1.

The 14 and under singles final saw the Horley ace confront Peter Molley; a player that had come out on top the last time the two met. However, after a slightly tentative start by both, Sam seized the initiative and produced an attacking style of play to take the first set 6-2. After the relative ease of the first set, the second seemed to be much more equal until Egan released a barrage of winners which, with the help of Molley losing confidence on his serve, propelled him to winning the match 6-2, 6-2.

There was no time for celebrations as Sam had to immediately focus on the unprecedented fourth final, the 16 and under singles final. Facing a tough opponent in second seed James Thorne, the young hotshot opened the match with a hold of serve and then a break of Thorne’s serve. This advantage was maintained throughout the first set because of the excellent baseline counter-attacking game being displayed by Sam. After succeeding 6-3 in the opener, Egan found himself break point down and on the verge of being on the wrong side of a 3-0 score line. This did not come to fruition though as Sam showed some nerves of steel and great determination to roar back into the contest and take a 5-2 lead, which eventually turned into a 6-3 second set win. With this, the 14 year old capped off a tiring week by heroically clinching his fourth final victory out of a possible four.

Upcoming Tournaments :

Team Cup - Saturday 11th September

Adult/Junior Tournament - Sunday 19th September