Chiswick House Gardens Tennis Courts

Eliano: Great match with some long games. Good defence from David and tricky forehand spins, made for some fun rallies. Good luck with the rest of the league!

David: A competitive game with Eliano on a sunny Monday evening at Chiswick House and Gardens! Both sets could have gone either way but Eliano was more clinical in key moments and deserved his win! I made a positive start and held my serve in the opening game. However, Eliano won the next three games to take a commanding 3-1 lead. I fought back to level up the set at 3-3 as we enjoyed some long rallies! At this juncture Eliano took control and won the next three games with relative ease to clinch the first set! I started the second set strongly and took a 2-0 lead. Unfortunately for me, Eliano once again flipped a switch and turned the tide in his favour. Eliano levelled up at 2-2 and then won a gruelling fifth game with around six deuces to edge 3-2 ahead. I had several opportunities to win the game but couldn’t take them and Eliano eventually prevailed. He subsequently extended his lead to 4-2. Although I reduced the deficit to 4-3, Eliano cut short the longer rallies with more aggressive groundstrokes and powered to victory! Well played Eliano! Despite my best efforts, you were simply too good today! Nonetheless, I really enjoyed the match and it was great to meet you! I hope we can play again some time! Best of luck for the rest of the season!

David: Wow, what an absorbing match on the lovely courts at Dukes Meadows! Although I won the first set 6-0, the score was misleading as every game was closely contested. Nigel inevitably fought back and the pendulum then swung the other way. Nigel raced into a 3-0 and 4-1 lead before I won five of the next seven games to force a tie-break. I was never ahead at any stage of the set - even during the tie-break - and Nigel deservedly levelled the match when I hit a forehand wide. We managed to reach 1-1 in the deciding set but darkness descended on us and the match ended abruptly! Nigel is very consistent and plays with a lot of spin which makes it awkward to find any rhythm. Well played Nigel! Great battle! I’m looking forward to finishing our match! Update: One month later, battle lines were drawn again and it didn’t take long for either of us to get into our stride! We shared some long rallies and the vast majority of games were closely contested but I managed to get over the line! Well played Nigel! Brilliant match from start to finish!

Seba: Great game with Nigel, who is one of the nicest guys out there. I really enjoyed playing with him.

Nigel: Really fun game with Seba, nice variety of shots and some epic points.