And the heat goes on, but so does tennis on the island.
The Circuito del Sur has now reached the Masters phase, and anyone interested in watching, the event now moves onto the tennis courts of the Abama Hotel from the 26th until 29th August. After the tournaments in Los Gigantes, Chayofa, Los Cristianos and Hotel Conquistador, the top 8 in each category are invited to play in the Masters. Matches start at about 10.00am every day.
Also during the summer “street tennis” has been played on the sea front in Los Cristianos, and below is a photo of some of the participants, along with the organiser David Paniaqua from Chayofa Tennis Club.
Meanwhile in Los Gigantes, the Sunday “You can not be serious” Doubles Tennis Tournament, a social round robin event where players play short four game sets before changing partners, was contested by 14 brave tennis players.
The diversity of nationalities was narrower than has been usual in recent weeks yet Norway, England, Germany and America provided players in addition to a small core of Tenerife residents. In the past we have had players from Belgium, France, Russia, Spain, Ireland, Holland etc.
Many exciting matches took place giving the contenders and those watching interesting rallies and some incredible if not impossible shots, all mixed with banter and good humour.
Until the start time it is not known exactly how many people will turn out, what levels they play at or indeed what the mix of man, boy, woman or girl will be, however, recent weeks have seen consistently between 12 and 16 players and this last week we had 9 male and 5 female entrants including two teenagers and the eldest contender being 65.
The referee and organiser slaves over his playlist during the course of the match to try to come up with interesting combinations comprising men’s doubles, ladies doubles and mixed. In addition these can break down into mixes of all weaker players, all stronger players or weaker supported by stronger. The whole tournament is effectively orchestrated to try and give everyone a fair chance to win some points.
Although good players will generally still score consistently it does not stop a less gifted player coming up through the pack to share the honours simply by playing consistently in support of their partners. This week was a case in point with ultimately the winner’s podium being shared by one good experienced player and one relative but consistent scoring beginner.
Greg and Kevin shared the honour of being winner and were duly given their certificates, plus a bottle of wine, each having scored 16 points. Roger, one of our regular resident players, scored 15 and received a runner’s up certificate.
There is also a Mid Week Doubles Challenge where a fixed partnership plays all the other doubles teams over a fixed time periods. Once all combinations have been exhausted the winning team is announced. A different format but the same “You can not be serious” ethos, it is all about meeting new players and enjoying the fun of the event.
If you live or are on holiday here in the south of the island, the tournament on Sunday starts at 10.00am and you just have to turn up 10 minutes before to play. The mid week event needs you to sign up beforehand.
Have fun on the courts!
