Barney Tanfield (NY) vs. Josh Dodgson (TUX) 6-4, 6-4
James Stout (NY) vs. Camden Riviere (TUX) 1-6, 5-6
Barney Tanfield & James Stout (NY) vs Josh Dodgson & Camden Riviere (TUX) 7-8
MATCH SUMMARY by Orlando Mallinson
On Wednesday, February 6thThe Racquet and Tennis Club hosted a National League match against the Tuxedo team. All players went into the match looking to open their accounts and put themselves in a strong position to qualify for the end-of-season final.
In the pre-match build-up, a group of twenty R&TC members and guests took to the court to compete in the USCTA target shootout. Paul Brooke opened up the scoring with a strong six points, awarded for hitting the winning gallery once and the tambour once in three shots. But ultimately James Crandell took the first prize, getting an outstanding nine points by hitting the winning gallery, the tambour, and the grill.
The first match of the night featured Josh Dodgson (Professional at the Tuxedo Club) versus our very own Barney Tanfield. The match was bound to be tight from the beginning with a series of intense rallies leading to a 6-4 win by Tanfield in the first set. As Dodgson started to adapt to Tanfield’s main wall boasts into the dedans, it was evident an eclectic approach was needed. Barney was beginning to dominate the service end, Dodgson started targeting the galleries, leading the two players to go game-for-game up to four-all. One particularly exciting rally included a rocket of a shot by Dodgson aimed straight at the grill, which was being covered by Tanfield, who, standing next to the tambour, executed an extremely rare tambour boast, catching Dodgson off guard and yielding a chase of better than three yards. Another heated rally involved Tanfield returning on a hazard chase; looking to beat the hazard with chase the line Barney fired one at the back wall, hitting the penthouse, it flew towards the net where Josh sprinted towards and even played a shot off the net itself to win the point. The second set ended with another 6-4 win by Barney Tanfield as he held the service end for the last two games.
The second match involved the world champions of two respective sports, rackets and real tennis. Unfortunately, for James Stout, they were playing the latter. The first set was a tough one for Stout, with Camden starting very strong and getting a 6-1 win. Despite the scoreline, the set was incredibly close with Riviere snatching a few very close games. At the dawn of the second set, Stout came back with a new fire in his eyes and even got to a 5-4 lead only for Riviere to show his extreme professionalism and talent by winning the next two games, and the match. Despite the close loss, all spectators were in absolute awe of Stout’s incredible ability to challenge someone as talented as Camden Riviere.
These two epic bouts led to huge expectation for the deciding doubles match — James Stout and Barney Tanfield versus Josh Dodgson and Camden Riviere. I think it’s safe to say the match lived up to its expectation with many thrilling rallies. The crowd was both stunned and frightened by the power of Barney’s shots into the dedans, with the net bulging frequently. Stout’s volleying was on top form with one particular backhand volley at full stretch stopping a blindingly fast shot by Dodgson heading into the winning gallery. The heated competition had some very extensive rallies with one lasting at least four minutes, with the ball only hitting the penthouse once. The strong desire to win from the Racquet club pros led to a 7-6 lead, but the Dodgson and Riviere partnership managed to snatch the last two games back after winning back the serve at 7-7. They won the last game from 40-30, the last two points being the only difference between the two very strong sides.
Special thanks to the Racquet and Tennis members and staff, who supported the event with a great turnout and fantastic appreciation of the high-class tennis played.
