SEATON Tennis Club’s leading players battled it out once again for the five club tournament trophies in front of a 50-strong crowd.

On a blustery and overcast day, first on court were up and coming youngster Zanna Newsholme and former finalist Jen Rose. The first set went to a more consistent Jen 6-3 before big hitting Zanna began to find her range more regularly, rattling off the first eight points in the second set to go 2-0 up.

She maintained her advantage to take the second set 6-3 and level the match. In the deciding championship tie-break Newsholme raced into a commanding 7-1 lead only for Rose to claw her way back to 8-5 with a huge shout of “C’mon”.

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But Newsholme held her nerve and closed out the breaker 10-6 to become the new champion.

Next up was the men’s singles, a repeat of last year’s final between Kevin Davis (39) and Stuart Loudwell (54).

This time, Loudwell looked to disrupt his younger opponent with a mixture of top spin, slice and volleys but Davis seemed to have the answer to everything with a combination of power and accuracy and one superb moment of finesse as a stop volley almost spun back into the net.

Try as Loudwell did, there only ever looked to be one likely outcome and Davis comfortably retained his title 6-1, 6-1.

The ladies’ doubles featured two new pairings, Rose and club coach Cristina Sanz, in coordinated red and black kit, taking on Jo Little and Julie Hopkinson.

There was nothing to choose between the pairs as they exchanged breaks of serve in the first set with some exciting close quarters volleying before Rose and Sanz edged ahead with a further break and took the first set 6-3.

A tense second set started off equally close, cries of anguish coming from Little and Hopkinson as chance after chance to get back on level terms went begging. But Rose and Sanz kept their composure and finally took the set on their second match point 6-4 and with it the title.

The sun came out briefly in the afternoon for the men’s doubles final between last year’s winners Peter Moroz (59) and Stuart Loudwell and the Beer pairing of Barry Follett (63) and Iain Horlock (34).

In a high-octane display of power tennis and quickfire volleying with all four players at the net, Moroz and Loudwell took the first set 6-4.

It was much the same in the second set with nothing to separate the teams up to 5-5 before Moroz and Loudwell just squeezed over the line 7-5 to retain their title.

As usual, the final event was the mixed doubles between multiple former winners Julie Hopkinson and Simon Prior (66) and new pairing of daughter and father Becs Hudson and Geoff Westall (62).

As the wind got up, gusts interrupted play three times, sending the players’ chairs cartwheeling onto the court.

Hudson and Westall coped better with the challenging conditions and broke serve in the second half of the first set to take it 6-4.

They then raced into a 5-2 lead in the second set and served for a convincing win only for Prior and Hopkinson to hang on with a break to love.

But the fightback was short lived and Hudson and Westall ran out worthy winners 6-3 for their first title.

Throughout the day, Andrew Cater supplied his delicious ice creams and there were complimentary strawberries and cream to keep the spectators happy, not to mention the bountiful supply of chilled beverages.

Seaton Tennis Club welcomes visitors and all new members from beginner to superstar, both junior and adult. For more details, contact: seatontennis@gmail.com