A breezy, slightly overcast, but warm day was the scene for the final day of the International Club of Great Britain’s Centenary Week at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. As the finalists prepared for their last matches on the hallowed grass courts, supporters arrived to a gentle buzz of excitement at the prospect of some mouthwatering ties throughout the day ahead.
Germany took the Mercelis Trophy in two matches while Spain were the eventual winners of the Windmill Cup, with the Final going absolutely to the wire and being decided on a Championship tie-break after the four singles and two doubles matches finished 8-8 on sets.
Germany defeated Australia to claim the title and playing on Championship Court 18, they won both singles for the victory, avoiding the need to play doubles.
In two quick matches Antonia Lottner easily beat Australia’s Loretta Sheales, who was a replacement due to injury, 6-0 6-0 in the first singles, followed quickly by Gitte Moller in the second who also won in straight sets 6-4 6-4.
After clinching their win, Lottner commented: “Playing on Court 18 today was a bit of a surprise. We thought we would be playing on Court 2 and then we got the message this morning that we were playing on the bigger one. I played at Wimbledon this year, so I have played on those courts before, but it was even more special to play there today.
“It has been such a nice week. For me it was the first time I have played in an International Club tournament, and I didn’t know what to expect to be honest. I also didn’t know my teammates before I came, so I thought it would be a bit different. But as soon as I met them it was brilliant - it’s been super chilled and we’ve had a great time with a nice team spirit which made the whole thing much easier. And to get the win is just brilliant!
“It’s always super special to be here at the All England Club. This is my third time on site – of course this is a different tournament but just to play on grass is super special. We don’t play on grass in Germany, so I feel vey lucky.
“Just being here on site when it’s so quiet is great because it gave us the opportunity to just have a look around. During Wimbledon it’s always so busy so it was really nice to experience it like this. I really liked the hill – during the tournament I went past it and it was so loud and crowded, which isn’t for me. But this week I have spent time there chilling, drinking coffee and I’ve really enjoyed the calm of it.”
Moller added: “It was super special to be on Court 18 today. I have my daughter with me today, so it was great to play in front of her. She’s been a big part of the team!
“We’ve been staying in a house just over the other side of the courts and we’ve made it the German house, so we’ve had a lot of fun! We had one day off so we went into the city and saw the attractions with my daughter, which was exciting too.
“We’re really looking forward to the dinner tonight and being presented with the Trophy!”
The Windmill Cup was played out between top seeds Spain and second seeds Italy on Championships Courts 16 and 17. In a really competitive and tightly fought fixture, both teams were desperate to not give anything away. In the first match it was so tight that the first two games took nearly an hour to complete. After the first two singles it was one match apiece, setting up a really exciting fixture for the Final. Lorenzo Pennisi had taken the first rubber 6-1 3-6 (10-6) for Italy against Gorka Fraille and Spaniard, Jose Vicente won the second 6-4 6-4 against Stefano Tarallo.
In the third singles Adelchi Virgili from Italy overcame José Antonio Sanchez De Luna in three sets 6-4 6-7(4) (10-3) before Spain’s Daniel Muñoz De La Nava beat Italy’s Luca Vanni 0-6 7-6 (10-7) to set up yet another doubles decider in the tournament.
Italy won the first doubles match easily with Vanni and Virgili defeating Sanchez De Luna and Muñoz De La Nava 6-2 6-2 to take the overall score to 7-6 sets to Italy. In the remaining match Pennisi and Andrea Monti were competing against Vicente and Fraille as the clouds cleared to make way for brilliant evening sunshine, casting long shadows on the court. Spain won the first set 7-5 before Italy took the second 6-2, making it 7-8 on sets to Italy. Spain won the first Championship tiebreak to draw the fixture at 8-8 and set up the winner takes all super tiebreak with a player from both the open and over 45s category in each team.
Vicente and Muñoz De La Nava were picked for Spain, who won the toss, while Pennisi and Vanni made up the Italian team. Vicente served first for Spain and held to go 1-0. Vanni’s powerful serve enabled Italy to level at 1-1 before Pennisi made it 2-1 for Italy. The next two points went Spain’s way before Italy clawed one back on serve for 3-3. A break on the seventh point gave Spain the edge and they proceeded to win the next four points. As the match got more tense, Italy broke Muñoz De La Nava’s serve to make it 4-8 to the number one seeds, but it was a touch too late and Spain won the remaining two points to clinch the overall title in emphatic style!
After some quick celebrations, Spanish captain Javier Linares cheered: “It was amazing today. All of our matches from the quarterfinal have been decided by a super tiebreak and one of them we were losing 6-2 5-0 against Australia, but we managed to overcome that and win.
“We aren’t specialists on grass courts, so it’s more difficult for us to play against Australia, Great Britain and the USA. But we know Italy are fighters on the court, so I’m really pleased and proud that we got the win!
“We have had the best week. What more can I say – we’ve played tennis at Wimbledon and we’ve won – what more can we ask for?!”
There were also two consolation finals today, with Belgium men’s team winning the Orsini 4-1 over Mexico and USA ladies’ team securing the Winnie Woolridge with a 2-1 victory over Czech Republic.
Having won the singles matches 4-1, Belgium needed to win just one set in the doubles to secure the title, which they duly did 7-5.
With one win each in the singles the ladies title was decided by the doubles with USA going 6-3 3-0 up early on. But the Czech Republic fought back to take the second set 7-5 and then lost 7-10 in the Championship tiebreak.
Following the close of a very successful competition, Adrian Blackman Tournament Director commented:
“It’s been a very enjoyable week running this tournament and has been a pleasure to be involved in the planning right from the start. It’s taken a few years to organise and now that it’s come, it’s been a huge job for all of the Committee, but I think all of us have found it really rewarding and it’s just been great to see so many people from so many different countries come together, play tennis and have wonderful social events. I think it’s been everything we pictured it would be and more.
“We’ve had a great team who have worked really well together and been so positive throughout the whole week, making sure that we delivered everything we needed to and I’m really proud to be a part of that.
“My core highlight of the week is that it has truly been a proper festival of tennis, epitomising the IC spirit with a wonderful standard of tennis and great camaraderie between the teams on and off court.”
The full list of results can be found here.