Day two of the International Club of Great Britain’s Centenary Week saw play heavily interrupted due to inclement weather across the courts of SW19.
After playing through some light rain in the morning, play was suspended after just an hour, before resuming at 5.00pm.
In the Mercelis Trophy, hosts Great Britain made it through to round 2 easily with a dominant win over Barbados.
Karen Lamb took to the court first and secured an emphatic 6-0 6-1 victory over Sue Rogers, managing to secure the victory before the rain set in. After the delay Emily Arbuthnott made light work of her match against Donna Gibbs, also winning in straight sets 6-0 6-1 to set up a round 2 fixture against Bermuda, who beat Japan 2-0.
Following her match Arbuthnott commented: “It was really good out there today. It was a bit difficult with the rain delay, having to wait quite a number of hours before we played, but I’m really happy that we got through the first round. There were good performances from both me and Karen and we secured a really comprehensive win, so we’re looking forward to taking that to round 2 tomorrow.
“It’s really great playing people from different countries, especially those places where I haven’t played opponents from before.
“It’s already been really good this week. I know how hard the Committee has worked to put this on. I remember it being mentioned when I first joined the IC about four years ago and it’s been a monumental effort planning it and things have been running very smoothly so far. We had the boat trip on Sunday which was really good fun and a really nice experience for everyone who has come from far away to get to see the main sites of London and get to do something really cool like that. It’s all been going well, so I’m now looking forward to the rest of the week and hopefully some good matches.
“It’s really nice being back on these courts. I’m obviously very fortunate to play here a lot now, but stepping on the grass feels magical every time and it’s really nice to be able to play some competitive matches as well. I feel a little bit at home, which is nice so that will hopefully give me a confidence boost.”
Also making it to round 2 are South America, Italy, Luxembourg, Germany, Spain and Australia.
Top seeds France faced a tough opponent in Hong Kong and Switzerland, with Marie-Dominique Larras eventually coming through in three sets to beat Michelle Paroubek in the opening match of the fixture. Marine Piriou won the first set in the second match and is 2-1 up in the second set, ready to be resumed in the morning.
Given the day was beset by rain, a number of other fixtures will also be completed tomorrow, including India vs New Zealand which currently stands at 1-1, so will be decided by the doubles. Ireland and South Africa are also neck and neck with each nation having won one match and they are currently 5-5 in the first set of the doubles. In the last fixture in the Mercelis Cup, Denmark and USA are also tied at one match each and the score in the doubles is currently 5-5, setting up an exciting decider from 11:00 tomorrow morning.
In the Windmill Cup, Italy defeated Bermuda 4-0 in the singles to secure the only finished match of the day. The second seeds put in a dominant performance across all four matches winning in straight sets and dropping only eight games.
The remaining fixtures all need to be completed tomorrow. Number one seeds Spain are in a commanding position having won two matches so far against South America and are one set up in the third. Czech Republic are leading Norway, while hosts Great Britain are also two matches to the good against South Africa.
Australia are leading New Zealand by two matches and the Netherlands are two matches up against Hong Kong and Switzerland. Denmark and Slovenia make up the remaining fixture to be finalised tomorrow.
The full list of results can be found here.
View photo highlights of the day here.