Tennis: Merthyr face baptism of fire in top division

May 1 2008 by Our Correspondent, Merthyr Express

AFTER the disappointment of losing their play-off promotion game last season, Merthyr were unexpectedly promoted to division one of the South Wales Tennis League.

The first match of the season was a tough away encounter at Haverfordwest, whom Merthyr last played 12 years ago.

With the same combination of pairings as last season, Merthyr started with father and son David and Stuart Baker as first pair. They came up against a pair of Welsh Under-18 champions and in a close encounter lost in two sets.

Merthyr’s second pair, Phil Rudman and Steve Barnes, lost in another close tussle, 7-5 7-6, with the home pairing having an extraordinary amount of luck at vital points which swung the match.

However, the tie of the round was between Richard Treharne and Michael Patterson and the second pair of Haverfordwest. With the match at one set all, the third set was decided by the first pair to 10 points and with the score at 8-7 to Merthyr, Treharne missed a drop shot and the Merthyr pair eventually lost 10-8.

Merthyr were therefore 3-0 down after the first round of matches, but then a fightback started as Baker/Baker produced a fine performance in beating the strong third West pair 7-6 6-1 and then Rudman/Barnes were able to beat a combative West second pair 7-6 6-4.

With the match score now at 3-2, Merthyr were hoping to tie level but Treharne/Patterson were unable to achieve a winning performance, losing 6-3 6-4.

With the score 4-2 to Haverfordwest going into the last round of matches, Merthyr were still in with a chance of winning the tie and Treharne/Patterson gained an excellent victory over their opponents, winning a thrilling last set tie-break 10-8.

Baker/Baker then gained another last set victory 10-2, but the match ended on a sour note for Merthyr as Rudman/Barnes were unable to beat Haverfordwest’s first pair, losing 6-4 6-2.

The final match score was 5-4 to Haverfordwest, but Merthyr can take great encouragement from the performance and hope to gain a victory this weekend at home in Thomastown Park when they entertain Llanelli.