The view from the dedans on the second day of Varsity lived up to hopes and expectations, as our undercover reporter explains.

A Grand Day Out
I woke at 4am with a gummed up left eye, the result of a streaming cold…. not a great start to a day which promised much. The CURTC Gals were ahead 3-1 and the Lads at least 1-0 to the good according to the latest from Lords. We were off first to MURTC for some Doubles where their pro Will would be deputizing, to the best of his ability, for the still hobbling Bernie. The eye was cleaned up (thanks, wife!), the (right) train was caught, and the underground was providing ‘a good service on all lines’ so Guy and myself were on Court on time at 10:55am (yes, MURTC have moved to a new and improved booking schedule…). Charles and Will proved too strong in the first set but we surprised them in the second. So honours even we set off in search of a southbound 113 and lunch.

Sadly we missed the moment of triumph for the Gals as Sophie and Emily sealed the first CURTC Ladies win for many, many years. In fact Matt was on court making it look rather easy, as we scurried around in search of lunch (no problem), soup (ditto), salt (none to be found) and plates (sorely lacking). Fortunately wine and glasses were available although three card machines were required before I could pay. As I listened to someone tell Matt his opponent had served better (which I found somewhat incredible, given the only way Matt looked as if he could lose would be by serving 24 consecutive double faults), Alex took the court against Ben (who had made playing against Julian Stafford look rather easy at the 2014 CURTC vs OUTC club match, his third time on Court…). Alex started rather nervously though whether it was worrying about his ankle or the fact that his captain was next up was not clear. Eventually, after much looking skywards, Alex prevailed in an entertaining two setter.
Alex’s reason for nervousness became clearer as Jamie promptly lost the first set against a seemingly un-passable opponent. I was exhausted just watching. But it became clear that Jamie had rather more in reserve as Archie began to miss a few shots and slowly but inexorably the tide turned. It was quite a match! Finally Ed took to the stage and was quite ruthless in dispatching his opponent who did well to win 4 games, IMO. Even better was that Ed had got us back on schedule allowing time for a relatively panic free transition into Black tie which had been chauffeured down to Lords (thanks, Kate). However, the good news day for Cambridge was not yet finished as, in the midst of black tie tying, I discovered Jules has GOT A JOB!!! Great news and congratulations and I think I almost understood what he is about to start doing. Sadly the job is rather closer to Queen’s than Grange Road….

Any event with a champagne sponsor is special, any event with a Real Tennis loving sponsor at Lords is even specialer, thanks Pol Roger! I got to congratulate the Gals and heard about Karen’s 2 hour marathon (“I decided I needed a coke, and the only way to get a coke was to get the third set over with”). And chat with some of the participants whose good humour was remarkable, understandable perhaps from Cambridge but noteworthy from Oxford, as well as some of the non-participants, including our very generous and genial sponsor, a very and rightly proud Kees, a typically Freddy Freddy, and a less hobbling Bernie. A splendid dinner in the Long Room followed, it really is quite a setting and inspired by the occasion, out came the camera…..

Results

Cambridge	Women	Oxford
Emily Brady	4th singles	Evelyn Fleming
St Catharine’s	6/4 6/1	Corpus Christi
Karen Pearce	3rd singles	Clare Bucknull
Wolfson	6/2 5/6 6/1	All Souls
Venetia D’Arcy	2nd singles	Isabel Hunt
Emmanuel	3/6 1/6	St Hilda’s
Sophie Morrill	1st singles	Maggie Henderson-Tew
Sydney Sussex	6/3 6/2	Exeter
D’Arcy/Pearce	2nd doubles	Hunt/Bucknull
	2/6 0/6
Morrill/Brady	1st doubles	Henderson-Tew/ Fleming
	6/3 6/0
RESULT: Cambridge Women won 4-2
Cambridge	Men	Oxford
Matt Shaw	4th singles	Alex Mullan
Homerton	6/0 6/3	Balliol
Alex Evans	3rd singles	Ben Graves
Jesus	6/5 6/3	Worcester
Jamie Giddins	2nd singles	Archie Burgess
Fitzwilliam	4/6 6/2 6/2	Pembroke
Edmund Kay	1st singles	Jonny Whittaker
Trinity	6/2 6/2	St Hilda’s
Giddins/Evans	2nd doubles	Whittaker/Mullan
	6/3 6/1 6/2
Kay/Shaw	1st doubles	Burgess/ Graves
	2/6 6/3 6/2 6/0
RESULT: Cambridge Men won 6-0