Manchester

By Ken….

Flemski

On paper Manchester would seem to have been a very successful week but unfortunately it was a week that got away. Having played solid throughout the week and for most of the final we ended up losing, having had two match points. The road to the final was difficult but we were able to perform at our best and find the big plays when needed. The second round and the final were unfortunately played indoors due to inclement weather. Through the middle part of the week we had the opportunity to get back on court with Louis Cayer. We hadn’t seen Louis since Wimbledon and it was good to review the grass court season and understand areas we could improve.
Colin and I were in our fifth challenger final of the year and looked to add to our Cremona successes earlier in the season. Josh Goodall and Jonny Marray were our opponents for the prestigious event and we looked forward to an enjoyable final. Colin and I had a great warm up and were in high spirits heading into the match. The singles final between Igor Sijsling and Oliver Rochus was moved indoors. As Colin and I talked tactics while observing the match from the side of the court we were interrupted with an unusual request from Igor Sijsling. Having started the opening set in his grass court shoes he decided it was worth finding out if he could borrow a pair of our shoes. He was in desperate need of a UK size 10. Fortunately we are both the same size. A size 10. Colin and I were both willing to give up our shoes to help a friend but who was going to do it. In the end we decided a quick game of paper, rock, scissors would find us a winner. So the game began, 3…2…1…rock. Colin called rock. 3…2…1…paper. Colin called paper. 3…2…1…rock. Colin called rock. By this time the final was almost over and we still hadn’t found our winner. In the end I won the battle with a paper. Colin was disappointed but gave his shoes to Igor who eventually went on to lose the final in a close three sets. 
The doubles final was a fun and entertaining match with very little between the teams. We got ourselves an early break but we gave up the advantage serving for the set. The match slipped away from us in the second set after Josh and Jonny played a great game to break us. This brought up a champions tiebreak for the title. It was going with serve until we sneaked ahead after the second change over. It seemed like we would go on to win as we reached matchpoint at 9-7 but a sloppy mistake from myself and a good two service points from Josh swung the match on its head. In the end Josh and Jonny took advantage of a couple of our mistakes at crucial times and deserved the title.
The week overall was long but enjoyable. The Flemski fan club were again in full voice throughout the week. Both families had big support during the final and we would like to thank them all for coming and hopefully we can take a title next time around!

A great performance from the Colin and Ken. The lighting was not good indoors and a miss hit by Goodal saved match point.

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