This was the first of our matches against our old friends from last season's Premier 2 Promotion league. If you're going to play a club on the top of a hill in Wellington then make sure you choose a particularly windy day. We made our way up the long and winding road in Brian's roaring team HQ and, after a quick browse round the cool Thump Sports shop, were ready to play.
Kris and I had a good 6-2 6-2 doubles win against the young and big-hitting pair of McDonald/Johnson. Khandallah fielded an absurdly good second pair of Callender/Liddell. Richard and Chris gave it a good effort but lost 6-2 6-2, so all square going into the singles.
I got beaten up on pretty badly for the first set and a half by young Mitchell McDonald. He was hitting very well in high winds and I was soon 6-2 and a break down in the second. But I started to get a foothold in the match, got the break back, and forced the second into a TB. The atmosphere was getting a bit tetchy by now. Mitchell and his dad complained that I wasn't allowed to talk to Brian at the change of ends, which turned out to be incorrect. I went 4-2 down in the TB but managed to scrape it and force a third set. Mitchell seemed to be suffering some cramps now and I got to 5-1 up and eventually took it 6-3. We finished up on good terms, though Brian still marched over to Mitchell at the end to wave the rule book in his face and prove he could talk to me all he wanted to!
Kris faced off against Guy Callender, who beat me last season. Similarly to my match with Callender, Kris got off to a good start but then Callender came back to take it 6-4 6-1.
Brian wrapped up an excellent 6-2 6-4 win against Suri Bartlett. Like a true Wellingtonian Brian was not remotely troubled by the wind and was seen repeatedly bouncing smashes over the back fence.
We needed a win from Richard to see us home and he delivered for us with a 4-6 6-2 6-3 win against Thomas Johnson. Richard enjoyed the wind about as much as me but found a way to cope and battled back from a set down against an opponent with a very good forehand.
I treated myself to a new backpack from the shop and we made our way to the Shepherd's Arms to recover from all our exertions in the wind. That's Kris, Chris, Richard, Brian (nice smile) and me from left to right in the photo.
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