Hitchin Tennis Club: Fourth team take top spot with comeback victory at Bancroft Gardens

Hitchin Tennis Club's fourth team took top spot in Division 6A of the Datchworth summer league with a comeback victory against Dellcott 3s, writes Ben Page.

The side captained by Jon Harris came through a thrilling contest at a busy Bancroft Gardens as a healthy crowd gathered to watch three concurrent home matches.

Hitchin Tennis Club's fourth team captain Jon Harris has led his team to top spot. CREDIT: Hitchin Tennis Club

Hitchin 4s lost the first set as Michelle Witham and Andy Proudlove went down 9-4 but Witham then partnered Harris to win the second by the same scoreline. The teams could barely be separated in the decider but Proudlove and Harris eked out a 7-6 win, securing the match for Hitchin by the narrowest of margins. 

Victory took Hitchin 5s to the top of the table on 15 sets, a lead of just a single set above Watton 3s. Legends 4s are a further two sets back in third place. 

Also playing at home on Monday, Hitchin 6s enjoyed their own 2-1 triumph after losing the opening set and coming back from the brink at 4-0 down in the decider against Letchworth 4s. 

In a close first set, Alice Mullan and Matthew Ellinger lost 8-5 but Hitchin came scorching back in the second as Mullan and Ben Page won the first 7 games without reply. Despite the set being lost, Letchworth showed immense resilience to regroup and win 5 of the remaining 6 games to finish 8-5.

Letchworth carried that momentum into the final set, their strong men's pair taking a 4-0 lead. But it was Hitchin's turn to prove their robustness under pressure. The turning point came when Ellinger, playing in his first ever Datchworth match, held a close service game, having seen off a break point, to take the score to 4-3. Hitchin then completed an 8-1 run to seal the match with another 8-5 scoreline, the seesaw nature of the contest a credit to both teams' battling spirit.

Hitchin 2s also recorded a 2-1 win in an at times feisty affair away against Odyssey's first team. Olga Bohuszewicz and Jack Grove won the opening set 10-3 but Bohuszewicz and Mark Rodseth lost the second 11-2. With tensions heightened, Rodseth taking a sip of water after a particularly long service game riled the opposition in scenes reminiscent of Denis Shapovalov's spat with Rafael Nadal at last year's Australian Open. Hitchin kept their cool to see out the victory, however, Grove and Rodseth beating the Odyssey men's pair 9-4 in the final set.