December 19, 2025
On 22nd and 23rd February 2013 Cambridge University fought the latest Varsity encounter against Oxford.
The men’s varsity match went down to a deciding doubles at Lord’s this year. The team – James Watson, Jules Camp (captain), Alex Evans and Freddie Kalfayan – came out of Friday’s play leading 2-0, having taken the first doubles match in straight sets and the second in a three-and-a-half hour titanic five-set struggle. But with four singles matches on Saturday there were no foregone conclusions.
Freddie Kalfayan won the first of the singles matches, but Oxford took the next three, levelling the score. Despite Freddie playing some unbelievable scoring volleys in the deciding doubles playoff, and James’ vast experience (including National League Div 2 champion in 2012), the Oxford pair of Johnnie Beale and Miles Jackson stayed solid and came out on top 6-3, 6-5.
The Ladies’ team had a big handicap disadvantage, but both Emily Brady (captain) and Imogen Whittam took their matches to 3 sets. Newcomer Karen Pearce, playing only her fifth competitive match, lost in straight sets, but shows a lot of promise for next year. Emma Samia-Aly, the 2012 captain, won in straight sets against the 2012 Oxford captain, Maggie Henderson-Tew. The two ladies’ doubles matches on Saturday morning both went to Oxford in straight sets, but as is often the case, the score didn’t reflect the closeness of the matches, with a lot of games going to several deuces and the final outcome hinging on just a few points here and there.
The club Pros were delighted by the effort and level of application of all our representatives and especially pleased that they all contributed to the successes of the event.

On Saturday and Sunday 2nd/3rd February 2013 twelve members contested the 60+ Handicap Category Tournament at CURTC. Three keenly fought groups produced clear winners in Nicholas Worsnop, Bernie Carpenter and Emily Brady, and a deserved best runner-up in David Hope.
On Sunday the opening game in both semi-finals was won by the eventual losers and in the final Emily Brady beat Bernie Carpenter by 6-2 to take the opening Category Tournament of 2013. A good day’s play for Emily, winning five sets of tennis in 5 hours on Sunday.
60+ Tournament results:
Group A
John Bailey 2 – 6 Nicholas Worsnop
David Hope 6 – 5 Richard Harper
Nicholas Worsnop 6 – 4 David Hope
Richard Harper 6 – 3 John Bailey
John Bailey 5 – 6 David Hope
Nicholas Worsnop 6 – 4 Richard Harper
Group A Winner – Nicholas Worsnop
Group B
Barney Couch 1 – 6 Bernie Carpenter
Simon Goodfellow 2 – 6 Charles Rowland-Jones
Bernie Carpenter 6 – 1 Charles Rowland-Jones
Simon Goodfellow 0 – 6 Barney Couch
Barney Couch 6 – 0 Charles Rowland-Jones
Bernie Carpenter 6 – 1 Simon Goodfellow
Group B Winner – Bernie Carpenter
Group C
Gillian Moore 2 – 6 Mike Whibley
Emily Brady 6 – 1 Richard Bowers
Richard Bowers 6 – 3 Gillian Moore
Mike Whibley 3 – 6 Emily Brady
Emily Brady 6 – 1 Gillian Moore
Richard Bowers 0 – 6 Mike Whibley
Group C Winner – Emily Brady
Best Runner-up – David Hope
Semi-Finals
Bernie Carpenter 6 – 2 Nicholas Worsnop
Emily Brady 6 – 2 David Hope
Final
Emily Brady 6 – 2 Bernie Carpenter
Category 60+ Winner – Emily Brady


Having been given a bye through to the semi-finals, Cambridge’s Field Trophy team were determined to put on a good show against a strong Holyport team. The second doubles pair of Ed Kay and Jules Camp kicked things off against opposition that included a former ladies world champion! It was the Cambridge pair, however, that remained steady, sealing the first match with a 6/3 6/4 win.
Next was Freddie Kalfayan against Holyort’s James Bloore, who had some 6 handicap points better on paper. Despite a few tight few first games, it was James who took the first set 6/2. The second was a different story, as Freddie started hitting his volley return of serve with pace and cut (arguably the best in the club!), either forcing an error or gaining the short chase and defending the service end to storm into a 5/0 lead. A broken string seemed to affect the set, with James pulling back to 4/5, but Freddie regained his penetrating length at the right time and closed out the set 6/4 with an amazing reste. This was perhaps Freddie’s best performance to date, bodes well for the varsity match.
Alex Evans was in a similar position at second singles as he too faced an opponent who, on paper, looked the more likely winner. However, it was an in-form Alex who dominated from the service end and took the match 6/4 6/3.
With the tie now secured, the crowd wondered whether the quality would subside, but that was certainly not the case. Our first doubles pair of Duncan Colquhoun and Charles Harcourt, both very experienced in this competition, faced a pair who was out for pride. Our boys took a tight first set 6/5 before letting a few errors creep in and losing the second set 6/3. They came back fighting, regained their shot quality and the last went their way 6/3.
The last match would be an old Cambridge v Oxford rivalry as former CURTC student Ed Pearson took on former Oxford graduate Horatio Cary. Again, Holyport looked the strong favourite with some 8 handicap points advantage, but it was Ed who played some incredible tennis, constantly on the attack and winning the first set 6/2. The second set was much tighter and even though Ed had match points at 5/4 up, Horatio hit some fantastic backhands down the main wall to nick the set 6/5. Horatio now had the momentum and was starting to read the court much better, and ultimately proved why he is a 12 handicap by winning the final 3 games and the match with incredible retrieving and shot creation.
Final match score CURTC 4-1 Holyport. But make no mistake, this was a tremendous performance by our team, who now face Jesmond in the final to be played at Moreton Morrell on 10th March. Thanks to Peter who marked all 5 matches to the usual high standard we are used to!
Friday January 25th saw some exciting tennis on the Blue Court, as Scott and James took on the MCC in a National League Division 2 match. James’ opponent, former Cambridge University Ladies’ Captain and world number 2 Karen Hird, only took one game, but this score did not reflect a lot of closely fought points. Scott played Mark Mathias, and scored a tremendous 6-0, 6-0 victory, taking his handicap well into single figures.
The doubles saw MCC fight back, but they were unable to cause much trouble for the unstoppable Cambridge pair, the final score of 8-3 to Cambridge indicating a job well done.
Scott and James took on Queens in their latest National League Division 2 match on February 1st, this time playing away. Despite the tricky Queens court, they came through 2-1, Scott winning his singles and the pair taking the doubles. Scott’s handicap is shrinking fast, soon it might disappear. CURTC are now second in Division 2, 7 points behind Royal, and 7 ahead of the third placed Seacourt.
The Cambridge Ladies Real Tennis squad scored a decisive victory in their first competitive outing of the season at Newmarket on Sunday January 20th, with the four completed matches all going Cambridge’s way. Immy Whittam got the day off to a cracking start with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over her opponent. Number 1 seed Emma Samia-Aly took her match 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, and Emily Brady (Captain) completed the hat-trick with a decisive 6-3, 6-0 win. Karen Pearce, playing in her first ever real tennis match, rose triumphantly to the challenge and she too won in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4.
It was up to Kate Kirk, last year’s number 4 seed in the Varsity match, to complete the whitewash. In a departure from the script, she soon found herself 1-5 down in the first set, but getting the hang of her opponent’s game, she pulled the score back to 5-5. Unfortunately, that’s where the match ended. A tricky shot and an awkward turn and Kate was out of the game, with a knee injury that might scupper her chances of representing Cambridge at the end of February.
A tremendous evening, rounded off with a superb dinner and most convivial peri-prandial conversation.
The first match between Tom Hartley and Rob Cassels proved to be quite a struggle, with Rob desperately scuttling round the court attempting to dig Tom’s deceptively relaxed yet penetrating serves and deep returns out of the nicks and corners. Wasting far more energy than was strictly necessary, Rob eventually emerged the victor despite the usual littany of mis-hits and other errors, devastating forces into the net (the one in the middle of the court), and creative but illegal shots off the ceiling and windows.
The next match pitted Pat Humphreys against David Hope, both of whom served exceedingly well displaying the no-doubt intentional but apparently unpredictable variation that can be achieved by well-executed overarm side-wall serves (whatever they’re called….). Pat gamely fought back from 4-0 down to take the first set, and the second was no less of a tense battle, with Pat eventually getting his nose in front after a very impressive match from both players that showed gritty determination on both sides. A bit too exciting for some of the spectators in the clubroom, by then well and truly into their second bottle of Cobra.
Last to play were Richard Holt and Karl Backhurst. To those of us watching from above, Richard could be clearly seen thinking very carefully about where to place his return to the receiver’s end to wrong-foot his opponent and then executing the plan perfectly, whether into Karl’s forehand corner or the base of the tambour. Karl on the other hand played well and pulled off some brilliant shots from the service end, using his strength to great effect (I’m glad I didn’t have to play him). But in the end Karl made his efforts tell, and a third win to Th’Underdogs ensued.
Thanks must as usual go to Peter for diligently marking our matches, while avoiding potentially lethal head-high miss-hits to the line, and standing for some considerable time in what must have seemed like sub-zero temperatures. Thanks also to our hosts Hazard When Wet for the excellent dinner (lasagne with salad) and beverages (the Sauvignon Blanc was particularly good).
Rob Cassels
Cambridge v Oxford is always a big match occasion, and as National League matches go this was no different. With the entire Cambridge side made up of students and the Oxford side predominantly the same, you could be forgiven for thinking this was a warm-up for the Varsity crown.
1st year undergraduate, Freddie Kalfayan got off to a great start against Alex Portz who is fairly new to the game, but comes from a rackets background so certainly has an eye for the ball. The initial exchanges were even, but Freddie managed to deal with Alex’s heavy boasts well and dominate with his own railroad serve, running out a comfortable winner 6/2 – 6/3.
Next up Ed Kay took on the only non-student player involved, Adrian Fawcus. Again, early stages suggested this could be a close match, but Adrian’s powerful shots and creativeness in a tight situation were too strong for Ed, who never really got settled, and Adrian took the match 6/3 6/3.
As the tie hung in the balance, it would be up to the two captains to battle it out for the victory. Jules certainly started the stronger, with Johnny looking to force his way through the match, but with that came many errors, enabling a quick 6/1 first set to Cambridge. The second set was a closer contest, and seemed to be dominated by whoever had the service end. With some great rests and Johnny’s forcing starting to pay off, the set was poised at 5/5. Jules had the serving end, which was crucial, and managed to get a few volleys back at the right times to just nick the second set 6/5 and ensure Cambridge secured the match overall. With Varsity at the end of February, this was a good victory, but we still have plenty to do if we are to ensure the Pol Roger comes our way!
Well they have been and gone but not before handing the CURTC a good beating on Saturday, January 5th. And it all started so well with Johnny Bailey prevailing on the Blue Court in three sets and it ended well with Bernie Carpenter winning also on the Blue Court.
Unfortunately we lost the intervening three matches and all five on the Green Court. Kate Kirk gets an honorable mention as she at least got to a match point in her favour as does John Trapp who won a set. I shall respect the other team members requests for anonymity in view of their most generous contributions.
In true British tradition, the Manager was sacked before he had a chance to resign and formal protests have been lodged about one of the Dutch players ‘trouser-ware’ although the Dutch have lodged a counter protest about Bernie’s socks. We have a gallery of pictures so you can make up your own minds as to the most grievous sartorial transgression. Fortunately, John saved the day with some splendid generosity in the form of more pints of Adnams than CURTC won games and superb hospitality for both teams chez Trapp in Swaffham Bulbeck. And as my wife noted, "It was nice that they were able to win having travelled so far".

From left: Marian von Koesveld, Rogier Botting, Erik Gunter, Richard Kasten, In purple: Feikje Nassy, William Daw, Andre Driessen, Cees de Bondt, From net: Emma Lord, Johnny Bailey, John Trapp, Right hand 4: Bernie Carpenter, ex-manager, Kate Kirk, Dave Isherwood
ps Interesting news from Holland. There is a serious effort underway to restore the sixteenth century Tennis Court in Haarlem (60km north of Den Haag). However, there is a tight deadline on raising the necessary funds so nothing is certain yet.
Author’s name withheld by request


* with apologies to Paul Revere
A long but highly successful day culminated in Richard Bowers (70) winning the Christmas Tournament final at 10.15pm, taking the match 6-5 against Emma Lord (67). The group stage started early in the morning, and 30 competitors each played two singles and two doubles matches over the day. Handicaps ranged from 25 to over 70, and a special mention must go to Andrew Petrie (25) for competing despite massive handicap adjustments in favour of his opponents. In one match, a handicap difference of 42 meant his opponent received +30 while Andrew owed 30, had only 1 serve, was banned the tambour, banned chases worse than 3, banned hazard chases when playing off chases, and had to concede the service end after 1 chase!
Group winners went through to the knock-out stages, which produced semi-finalists Richard Bowers (70), David Hope (65), Emma Lord (67) and Charles Rowland-Jones (70). Richard and Emma won through to contest the final, which went to 5-5 and was eventually won by Richard at 10.15pm.
Many thanks to John Trapp for organising such a great day of tennis.
The CURTC National League Div 5 team of Jimmy Campbell, Oli Watson and Matt Barr took on the MCC on Sunday December 8th, coming through in a decisive 3-0. Jimmy and Matt won in straight sets against Ronald Paterson and Christopher Hopton of MCC 6/3 6/2 and 6/3 6/3 respectively, while it took Oli three sets to dispose of his opponent Simon Martin, 6/3 3/6 6/4. A good time for Watson to score his first win in a year. Jules, Captain of the Varsity Men’s team this year, scored the matches.
A veritable cohort of CURTC members headed off to Lord’s on December 8th, taking the day 5-1.
Full results:
+ Terry Gardner (65) and Pat Humphrey (63) beat Robert Rhodes (55.2) and Phil Devlin (49) 6/3 6/5
+ Dave Isherwood (62) and Robin Faux (59) beat Peter Brunner (59.8) and Clive Picton (53) 6/1 6/2
+ Peter Morrison (54) and Gerald Smith (48) beat Stuart Glyn (50) and Iain Harvey (50.8) 6/1 6/1
+ Keith Beechener (44) and Jeremy Davidson (51) beat Nick Carew Hunt (47.4) and Peter Ashton (50) 6/5 6/5
(Jeremy Davidson stepped in for an extra game when one of our team failed to turn up: they thought it was Sunday!)
+ John Firth (34) and Jimmy Campbell (29) lost to Isabelle Duncan (39.8) and Paul Brown (37.2) 3/6 6/2 4/6 (our own Paul Brown was playing for MCC).
+ Jeremy Davidson (51) and Rory Davidson (36) beat Nick Abelson (51) and Nick Davidson (41.6) 6/5 5/6 6/5
(three family members on court: Jeremy’s brother Nick playing for MCC)
Scott Blaber and James Watson scored a decisive win against Queens, with straight sets victories in both singles matches and an 8-6 win in the doubles.
The next match for the intrepid pair will be on January 19th, away at Petworth. The next home match will be on January 25th, against MCC. Check the court bookings for the times and come along to watch some exciting tennis.
In what had already been a very busy weekend (see previous updates), Cambridge hosted RTC on Sunday December 2. Ten senior members took on the visitors, and eventually triumphed 9-7.
The CURTC team was made up of Ian Barkshire, Keith Beechener (match manager), David Hope, Christie Marrian, Charles D’Oyley, Andrew Petrie, David Pimblett, Gerald Smith, Paddy Ward and Gary Weller. This stalwart bunch faced Oliver Buckley, Tom Carew Hunt, Tim Church, Simon Edmond (match manager), Peter Flood, Robert Frost, Stephen Goss, Virginia Myer and Owen Saunders from RTC.
CURTC hosted Oxford for an inter-club match on Saturday December 1st. Cambridge was represented by Smuts Beyers, Linda Fairbrother, Kate Kirk (match manager), Dominick McOmish and Dominic Simpson. The results seesawed between Cambridge and Oxford, levelling off at 2-2. In the last game of the fixture, Kate Kirk defeated her opponent 3 and 0 to seal the win for Cambridge.
The CURTC team of Scott Blaber and James Watson notched up a win against Petworth on Friday November 30th. Our boys took two straight sets singles wins and cleaned up in the doubles, winning the fixture 3-0.
Ladies’ Morning runs every Friday from 10am to 12pm. A social game of tennis






A stunning effort in sweltering heat which saw each of the three rubbers be clinched by Hazard When Wet in the third set last night.
Ian McGonigal took the first set for Hazard When Wet, possibly by taking advantage of the extra Hazard When Wet obstacle: a towel on court designed to catch the torrential rain finding its way through the roof – some on-the-spot rule additions from Peter our scorer meant it was a hazard chase if the ball hit it. Ian and Stuart Laing naturally spent some effort trying to do exactly that. Ian then went downhill in the second as Stuart pulled out a fantastic 6-1 but Ian managed to pull it back from this drubbing to win the third, despite the fact that his face looked like it was about to explode from the effort in the heat.
Ed Fairbrother took the floor against Christie Marrian with a huge uphill handicap difference to climb. Entirely self inflicted – Ed shouldn’t have won so many matches since the start of the league’s season! Calmly and with his typical enviably attractive playing style he plugged away, dragging himself from his owe-30 start to take each game, one by one. Christie pulled back valiantly in the second set but Ed denied him in the third.
So, aware of the pressure to clinch the all-important final game if Hazard When Wet were to challenge for the league, Tom Hartley took to the court against Anthony Dean. By now the court was positively humming; as warm as the oven which was warming up for some fabulous pizzas from Ed our chef. The first set seemed to come comfortably to Tom but, as seemed to be the theme for the night, it all came apart for Hazard When Wet in the second which Anthony took 6-3.
So, it was all down to a clincher third set. Nerves were getting frayed, shirts were dripping with, erm, exhaustion, and tiredness from the heat began to play into the match with double faults and increasing shots into the net. Tom held on to take the third, and
the match
By claiming the maximum 7 points, and denying Nomads, current Division 3 league leaders, any further points, Hazard When Wet are now just four points from the front, giving them a chance to take the Division 3 trophy. Their captain, Tom, looks set to commission a self congratulatory quintuplet of trophies for his team if they go on to win!
Tom Hartley
The Seventh Cambridge Weekend will take place on the 12th and 13th May 2012. It will again be an ideal occasion for members to enjoy some very competitive tennis, and for supporters of Cambridge University Tennis and University Alumni to renew and strengthen their connection with the Club. There will be a handicap doubles tournament played on the Saturday, and on the Sunday morning there will be some friendly doubles with impromptu pairings. For those who have already expressed interest please can you fill out the entry form and send it back with cheques made payable to CURTC.
After the very successful dinner last year held in Queens, this year’s event will be in The Old Kitchens in Trinity and promises to be another thoroughly enjoyable evening. The Dinner will be held on Saturday 12th May and be part of the very popular Cambridge Weekend. We hope to hold the price for the dinner (including wine) to around £40 – more details to follow soon. Maximum capacity is just 75 so early booking with the pros is advised.
<h3>National League Semi Final at CURTC May 16</h3>
CURTC 1, our Premier League team, with David Woodman and Andrew Fowler, has progressed to the semi final and will play The Dedanists(Ben Matthews and Chris Chapman).
The semi will take place at Cambridge on Wednesday 16th May, 6:00p.m. start. Tickets will be at the usual prices – £10 for Dedans or upstairs in the sponsors’ room, or £5 for standing in the galleries. Please email to reserve a place.
CURTC 2 (Scott and James Watson) will play their last match of the season tomorrow, 27th April, against Hatfield, 18:00 start. Your support will be most appreciated.
STOP PRESS – Scott is injured so the up and coming star, Ed Kay will partner James. We need to win to have a home semi final.
The Ladies Tournament took place on Saturday the 3rd of March and was won by Linda Fairbrother.
Semi-finals:
Linda Fairbrother bt Louise Ludekens 8/2
Alex Bryant bt Sonja Badenhorst 8/2
Final:
Linda Fairbrother bt Alex Bryant 6/4 6/4
In another exciting weekend of very well contested matches, Oxford managed to overcome our Men’s team 4-2 and our Ladies’ team 5-1.
Each of our players should take pride in the level of their performances and I know the packed dedans or friends, family, Cambridge Committee and officials from MCC took great delight in the player’s competitive spirit and their sportsmanship.
MEN
2nd doubles: J Camp & O Watson v J Beale & M Jackson 0-6, 1-6, 1-6
1st doubles: J Watson & E Kay v S Roach & A Evans 6-0, 6-4, 6-5
4 singles: E Kay v J Beale 2-6, 3-6
3 singles: O Watson v M Jackson 3-6, 2-6
2 singles: J Camp v A Evans 2-6, 5-6
1 singles: J Watson v S Roach 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
OXFORD WON 4-2
WOMEN
2nd doubles: L Browning & K Kirk v V Ormerod & Ormsby 6-1, 5-6, 1-6
1st doubles: E Samia-Aly & E Brady v Henderson-Tew & S Dannreuther 5-6, 2-6
4 singles: K Kirk v S Dannreuther 0-6, 1-6
3 singles: E Brady v C Ormsby 0-6, 2-6
2 singles: E Samia-Aly v M Henderson-Tew 5-6, 6-4, 6-4
1 singles: L Browning v V Ormerod 4-6, 2-6
OXFORD WON 5-1
After Ben Graham fell to Nigel Parslow and Philippe Nemery fell to Keith Beechener in the semi-finals, the 40-49 handicap tournament was won by Nigel Parslow, beating Keith Beechener 6-2
| Category 40-49 Tournament Results | ||
| Group A | ||
| Gary Weller | 4-4 | Ben Graham |
| John Lees | 2-8 | David Pimblett |
| Gary Weller | 6-4 | John Lees |
| Ben Graham | 7-3 | David Pimblett |
| Gary Weller | 2-7 | David Pimblett |
| Ben Graham | 5-4 | John Lees |
| Group B | ||
| Louise Ludekens | 2-10 | Nigel Parslow |
| Jeremy Fairbrother | 6-1 | Christie Marrian |
| Nigel Parslow | 6-2 | Jeremy Fairbrother |
| Christie Marrian | 1-7 | Louise Ludekens |
| Louise Ludekens | 6-4 | Jeremy Fairbrother |
| Nigel Parslow | 9-1 | Christie Marrian |
| Group C | ||
| Linda Fairbrother | 5-3 | Steve O’Rahilly |
| Philippe Nemery | 7-1 | Jeremy Davidson |
| Linda Fairbrother | 2-7 | Philippe Nemery |
| Steve O’Rahilly | 8-1 | Jeremy Davidson |
| Linda Fairbrother | 4-5 | Jeremy Davidson |
| Steve O’Rahilly | 4-6 | Philippe Nemery |
| Group D | ||
| Keith Beechener | 7-3 | Gerald Smith |
| Nigel Playford | 9-4 | Lucie Browning |
| Nigel Playford | 5-3 | Gerald Smith |
| Keith Beechener | 6-5 | Lucie Browning |
| Keith Beechener | 9-0 | Nigel Playford |
| Gerald Smith | 5-5 | Lucie Browning |
| Semi Finals | ||
| Ben Graham | 5-6 | Nigel Parslow |
| Philippe Nemery | 1-6 | Keith Beechener |
| Final | ||
| Nigel Parslow | 6-2 | Keith Beechener |
You Told Us….