WELLOW Tennis Club’s very busy summer season continued over the last week with eight teams competing in matches played in three different leagues and involving thirty two players although some members played in at least three matches. Of those eight matches Wellow’s teams won four, lost three - all very narrowly – and drew one.

The week started with an outstanding draw by their Sarum B team which entertained Andover – one of the strongest teams in the top division. The team of Simon Blowers, Sandra Peckham, Will Arnold and Fran Branford drew 4-4 on sets with Blowers winning all four of his closely contested sets partnering Peckham in the mixed doubles and Arnold in the men's doubles.

On the same day Wellow’s mixed masters team in the Portsmouth & District league entertained previously unbeaten Swanmore and the team of Mike Bevan partnering Laura Dodington and Sheridan Easton with Mescal Harper had a comprehensive victory 4-0 with Easton and Harper just beating the Swanmore first pair in a championship tiebreak third set. That was Wellow’s third consecutive win and leaves them in second place in the Division 1 table just behind Swanmore who have played a match more.

The weekend saw three Wellow teams playing. The ladies competing in the third division of the Hants & IoW league visited Littleton and came away with a narrow victory which sees them move up to second place in the league behind Romsey. The men's A team travelled to play David Lloyd at Nursling on their clay courts and in another close match the team of Stuart Martin, Kevin Stansfield, Ben Wallis and Will Arnold just lost out 32-39 on games against some very strong opposition. The men's B team of Mark Patience, Simon Blowers, Mike Bevan and Koko Naing also lost their away fixture at Thornden narrowly on sets 5-4 with both Wellow pairs beating the Thornden first pair but losing to a very strong second pair.

Then on Tuesday evening Wellow fielded three teams. The Sarum A Team which included Gordon Taylor -back from a trip to the Nadal Academy in Majorca - Ben Wallis and Laura Dodington made the short trip to Alderbury and returned with a 6-2 victory. Meanwhile back in Wellow the men’s over 45s A team of Simon Blowers, Kevin Stansfield, Paul Goodman and John Turner - also back from the Nadal Academy – had a very high quality match against a strong Thornden team narrowly losing out on sets.

Finally Wellow’s men's over 55s A team had an excellent win against David Lloyd West End 3-1. First pair Mike Bevan and John Moret found some good form to win all four sets for the loss of just eight games. Second pair Sheridan Easton and Graham Wallis after an impressive win against their opposite numbers 6-1,6-0 just lost out on a championship tie-break to the David Lloyd first pair. This was a third win for the team lifting them to second place in Division 2 of the Hants & IoW league.