On the weekend of September 1-3 HLTC Leimonias, The Hague, Netherlands hosted Centenary Tennis Club (CTC) Senior exchange. Four clubs took part, with visitors coming from Circolo Tennis Bologna, Rot Weiss Berlin and Fitzwilliam Dublin.

The weekend started magnificently with a practice session and a reception to welcome the visiting players to the grounds on a sunny, late summer Friday afternoon. The hosts encouraged all the visitors to spend a night in the town (or at one of the nearby beach clubs), in the vain hope that they might start the matches Saturday a little less sharp and fresh.

This clearly wasn’t the case, as Saturday morning all the teams made a quick and serious impression. Leimonias managed to battle its way past Rot-Weiss from Berlin (6-3), whilst on the other courts Fitzwilliam from Dublin narrowly beat an impressive CTC debut making CT Bologna (5-4), the last 45+ mixed doubles making the difference. Afterwards there was an extremely enjoyable Saturday evening dinner together at the club, excellently catered by the Leimonias chef Fabian and his crew. Followed by a (not too late) night on the town – for a small selection of the players. The evening went in a great atmosphere with friendship and laughs between all four teams.

Sunday the hosts Leimonias played Fitzwilliam in the final, while Rot-Weiss took on Bologna for the third spot. On another beautiful sunny day Leimonias quickly built a lead in the final, winning most of the men’s and women’s singles matches. After another hearty lunch, Rot-Weiss won the encounter with Bologna to take the third spot. And Leimonias was able to deal the decisive blow with a few strong performances in the doubles. Meaning that, for the first time in its history, Leimonias had finally managed to win a CTC-tournament!

Warmest thank yous to the participants, CTC organization and sponsor EFG International for making this event possible.

RESULTS:

1) HLTC Leimonias (The Hague)
2) Fitzwilliam (Dublin)
3) Rot Weiss Berlin
4) Circolo Tennis Bologna

Michiel Boots and Antti Tallgren
HLTC Leimonias