MEASURES to suppress the spread of Coronavirus in regards to tennis exemptions have been ratified by Tennis Scotland today.
Full updated Tennis Scotland guidelines can be found here – currently all tennis clubs in mainland Scotland are Tier 4.
HELENSBURGH Tennis Club coach Alan MacBeath is to run two Day Coaching Camps for children in P3-7 on Tuesday December 29 and Tuesday January 5 from 1-3pm.
He promises lots of fun actvities and games outside at the club. Details and booking can be found here.
BRITAIN'S elite wheelchair tennis players — including Helensburgh's Gordon Reid — fought out a richly deserved draw as the inaugural LTA Wheelchair Team Battle came to a dramatic close on Thursday at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton with teams the Lionhearts and The Knights locked together at 12-12.
Only once during Thursday’s eight contests did more than one point separate the two teams, with British men’s no.1 and world no.3 Alfie Hewett getting the better of British no.2 and reigning Paralympic champion Gordon 6-2, 7-6(2) to see the Lionhearts take the lead 11-9.
However, with both players later involved in the last of the event’s 24 matches to be completed, Gordon and world no.2 ranked junior Ben Bartram put together six games in a row to wrap up a 6-1, 6-3 win over Alfie and Dahnon Ward to ensure The Knights levelled the overall team score.
Gordon, who beat Alfie 6-4, 6-4 in their first singles head-to-head on Wednesday, said: “I think it’s been a great idea. It’s nice to get all the players from the LTA’s wheelchair programme together, which doesn’t happen very often.
"It’s great to be able to watch some of the younger guys coming through and seeing them play so well. Hopefully we can have more of these in the future.”
Fifteen of the LTA’s Podium and Podium-potential players and rising stars from the LTA’s National Age Group Programme assembled for the three days of men’s, women and quad singles and doubles matches, with a selection of mixed doubles contests adding to the excitement on each day of play.
Early Christmas for three!
Written by Gay Black
THE WINNERS of the Helensburgh Tennis Club Lotto draw for December were announced today by organiser Gay Black.
The £40 first prize went to Claire Whyte, the £20 second prize to Alastair Hope, and the £10 third prize to Janette Green. The cheques will be sent out in the next few days.
TIDINGS of great joy! The Helensburgh Tennis Club committee has decided that tokens for floodlights will now be provided free of charge.
The committee is hoping that this will make it easier to organise winter evening play and will allow for spontaneity.
TWO Helensburgh Tennis Club members have received early Christmas presents from the club's Lotto.
Organiser Gay Black announced today that the respective winners of the October and November draws were Mrs Eithne Ashton and Bobby Kerr.
HELENSBURGH Tennis Club members and their friends really rose to the occasion when it was decided to raffle a bottle of champagne in aid of Children in Need.
"I have been overwhelmed and delighted by the response," said organiser Ann McKelvie. "In just a week we raised the amazing total of £505."
FOR SEVERAL years Helensburgh Tennis Club has held a fundraising event in the clubhouse for Children in Need, but this year an alternative had to be found because of Covid 19 restrictions.
Organiser Ann McKelvie was determined the club should back this year's appeal in some way — so she is raffling a bottle of champagne.
She is asking members to contact her and pledge £1 per ticket (no limit!) which can be passed to her when convenient.
A year ago the club's first Children in Need Lunch in the clubhouse proved a massive success, and raised £766, compared with £300 raised at the 2018 coffee morning.
HELENSBURGH Tennis Club's Covid-19 officer, Fiona MacLaren, has been busy since she was appointed.
She told the website: "Just a few words to update members on my activity around the club since I took on the role of COVID Officer last month . . .
- Updated notices around the club facilities inside and outside
- Repositioning of the sign-in book to shelter it from the weather
- Installation of new court-side sanitiser dispensers – thanks to Ian Parlane
- Completion of CV19 e-learning moduleCompletion of CV19 risk assessment documentation
"Please contact me if you have questions or comments about any COVID related matters in relation to our club facilities and rules for play.
"In the meantime please continue to enjoy playing tennis safely by following the carefully considered guidance, checking online at Tennis Scotland www.lta.org.uk and thereby playing your part in keeping us all safe."
ONLY one final in the Helensburgh Tennis Club 2020 Club Championships remains to be played.
THREE Helensburgh Tennis Club Lotto winners have been announced by organiser Gay Black.
Winners for the July, August and September draws were Iain McLaren, Bill Ram and Louise Burnet. They will receive their cheques for £20 each shortly.
HELENSBURGH'S Gordon Reid and partner Alfie Hewitt today won the French Open wheelchair mens double title at Roland Garros.
Unbeaten in 2020, they completed the career Grand Slam together for the first time.
HELENSBURGH'S Gordon Reid failed to book a place in what would have been his third French Open mens singles semi-finals in four years on Wednesday’s first day of wheelchair tennis action at Roland Garros.
Gordon's bid to set up an all-British semi-final against doubles partner Alfie Hewett ended in a 6-3, 6-3 loss to Argentinian defending champion and world no.2 Gustavo Fernandez, the player he met in both the 2016 and 2019 finals in Paris.
TWO ladies doubles titles have been decided in the Helensburgh Tennis Club 2020 Club Championships.
Katie Hope and Alison Fotheringham (pictured) had to dig deep to overcome a feisty Liz Wylie and Suzanne Marshall in the final of the open Ladies Doubles.
HELENSBURGH'S Gordon Reid begins his French Open wheelchair tennis campaign tomorrow (Wednesday), aiming to end 2020 unbeaten in Grand Slam doubles competition with partner Alfie Hewett.
With Japan’s world no.1 Shingo Kunieda and Argentine's Gustavo Fernandez set to be the top two seeds for this year’s French Open, it is a possibility that either Gordon or Alfie could be pitched against either Fernandez or Kunieda in the mens singles when the draw is made in Paris tonight.
HELENSBURGH'S Gordon Reid and Alfie Hewett completed ideal preparations for the wheelchair tennis event at Roland Garros after winning both the mens singles and doubles titles between them at the French Riviera Open in Biot in the south of France.
Alfie beat world no.2 and reigning Roland Garros champion Gustavo Fernandez 6-3, 7-6(6) in Saturday’s mens singles final at the ITF 1 Series event. On Friday, he partnered Gordon to win the mens doubles.
THE HELENSBURGH Tennis Club 2020 Club Championships are close to completion.
There will not be a finals day, and all finalists can arrange their own time to play their finals ideally in the next couples of weeks.
HELENSBURGH Tennis Club's Adult Winter Coaching Block runs from October 19 to November 25 and costs £20 for members and £40 for non-members.
The coaching team has added three new adult classes to the winter coaching block.
AS COMPETITORS move into the serious stage of the Helensburgh Tennis Club club championships there are a couple of reminders for competitors.
