Crowstone & St Saviour’s really did save Southend & District LTA for round two of the mini tennis and girl’s Grands Prix. Courtesy of the club committee, Crowstone Tennis Club hosted the round with only 14 days’ notice.

The Mini-Greens, for players under 10, opened and produced some fine and competitive tennis.

Table-topping Jessica Bunting of Westcliff Hard was drawn against Rochford’s Abbie Rex. Despite the 4-1 score, Abbie put up a more resilient second set and at one point held set point before losing the game to force a tie break instead. Even in this the decider would prove a tentative affair, with Jessica gaining the upper hand at the back end of the tie breaker to take the match 4-1 5-4 and maintain her lead at the top of the table.

Rochford’s Zoe West recovered from her first round losses to beat Westcliff Hard’s Alex Ayton. Alex took the first set 5-3 win before Zoe claimed the second 4-1. The match went to a championship tie break where Zoe won 7-5. In an all-boys clash Westcliff Lawn’s Ethan Evison, who missed the first round, won his opener 4-0 4-0 and then lost in a cracking match 5-3 5-3 to Westcliff Hard’s James Needs. Westcliff Hard club-mates Joseph Madren and Barney Mason traded a series of rallies with their top spin forehands. Barney eventually won 5-3 5-3.

Hannah Jones of Thorpe Bay was looking to extend her lead at the top of the U12 girls’ table and was drawn against Abbie Rex. But an earlier incident in Abbie’s U10 match left her hands blistered and unable to continue after a few games. The other match between Amelia Reeves of Rayleigh and Claudia Lauretta of Thorpe Bay took more than two hours of play to get a winner. Both girls, evenly matched, exchanged a series of long rallies and games that very often would go to deuce before Claudia won 7-5 6-2.

Amy Sergeant of Thorpe Bay continued to dominate the girls’ U14 league with another 6-0 6-0 victory, while Hannah Jones, also of Thorpe Bay stayed hot on her tail with a 6-4 6-0 victory over Olivia Woolston of Rochford. In the girls’ U16, Molly Randle (Thorpe Bay) took on Rayleigh’s Emily Watts, who was playing her first ever singles match in competition, and despite her experience fell awkwardly early in the match but was fit enough to continue. Emily contained Molly for long periods of the match with several deep ground strokes and a mix of drop shots. But Molly’s match experience was the decisive factor to the match earning her a 6-4 6-1 victory to move to the top of the table. Olivia and Amy both stepped up to the U16’s after their earlier matches. Amy fended off countless powerful first serves from Jessica Colbear (Thorpe Bay) to impress with a 6-0 6-0 victory. Harriet Hemmings (Thorpe Bay) won 6-0 6-0 over Olivia to move joint top with Molly.

The third Round will be held at Thorpe Bay Lawn Tennis Club on Sunday, July 27. In the Senior League, Rochfordearned a victory over last year’s runners up, Westcliff Lawn with a narrow 3-2 scoreline.