The second match of the season, which was contested by the local ladies who belong to the Ross Ladies A Team, was played at home on the newly resurfaced courts.

After the team recently collected a trophy for winning the 2017 Winter League Division Three, this was their second match in Division Two, and it was played against the Droitwich A team.

The first pair consisted of Brenda Saunders and Val Davies, along with Jane Pepperell and Sarah Drake as the strong second pair for the Ross-on-Wye team.

Despite the wind during the match, Brenda and Val took on the strong serving Bromsgrove first pair.

The Ross Ladies A Team were delighted to win the first set 6-4, before they unfortunately caved in and lost the second. However, they then cut down on their mistakes and managed to take the third set 6-1.

Meanwhile, Sarah and Jane showed great determination to come from behind in both sets, and in the end they managed to secure a well earned victory against the second pair. This was following a thrilling tie-break, of which the results were 6-1, 7-6.

Members of the Ross Ladies A Team were very grateful for their three supporters who cheered them on during the matches, all braving the wind on the day to watch some of the excellent rallies.

Following a drink and a snack in the beautiful pavilion, where there were several compliments from the visitors, the ladies headed out for the second rubber. This time the floodlights were needed due to the poor light in the dull winter’s day.

Val and Brenda faced the visitor’s second pair, and had many long rallies, but the ladies managed to break their opponents’ serves and were delighted to win 6-3, 6-3.

Meanwhile, despite some herculean hitting, Jane and Sarah were unable to win the vital points, meaning that the final score finished at 2-6, 5-7.

All in all the ladies enjoyed a day of well played matches, along with a tasty match tea with delicious home-made soup and cake which was helpfully served by Sandy and was very much enjoyed by all.

The treats topped off a match which was played in a wonderful atmosphere and the Ross Ladies win made it smiles all around as the ladies posed with their trophy.

Ross Tennis Centre is open to members and also welcomes non-members too. For more information, email [email protected] or visit the Ross Tennis Centre website: www.rosstennisce ntre.org.