December 6, 2025
- Riya Bharwad wins the LRTA Under 21 singles at Radley
- Godsill and Glasscock (almost!) win the Doubles Double
- CAMBRIDGE WIN AWAY AT MIDDLESEX!
- National League on Friday (17th)
- East Anglia Cup, 28/6/25 at Newmarket
- East Anglia Cup+ 2025 @Newmarket
- FLM IRPTA National League, Division 9: Final
- Leamington Visit Redux
Pt 3: Women’s Varsity 2nds
Camice, Kitty, Stacey, Phoebe
The Men’s and Women’s 2nds Varsity are both on the Blue Court this Friday (24th) and Saturday (25th). Hopefully the stream will be working but to be sure of catching the action, why not go along to the club? And I’m sure the players would appreciate any sustenance that you could bring with you!
 Camice Revier |
 Kitty Croft |
 Phoebe Fox |
 Stacey Sandigurskaia |
Women’s Varsity 2nds, 2023
Busy Weekend: Pt 2 Men’s Varsity 2nds
Danny Leboff, Ollie Hilton, Peter, Kees, Miles Kempton & Oliver Anderson-Shah
This weekend sees the return of the Varsity 2nds match to Cambridge on Friday, 24th, and Saturday, 25th. Please come along to the club and support our teams if you possibly can.
 Danny & Oliver |
 Ollie & Miles |
Busy weekend for our student players: Pt 1 CURTC Ladies visit Newmarket
On Sunday morning, 6 CURTC Ladies set off to Newmarket for an away match. For many of us, it was the first time playing on a different court to Cambridge, so you could feel the excitement in the air!
The morning started with Ulla Petti (W1) facing her long-time nemesis, Adam Mackintosh. After Ulla’s comeback from 0:4 down, Adam managed to keep his focus, and just like at their previous match in Prested, beat Ulla by one game – this just calls for a rematch! Next up was Anna Chesca (W1) against Logan Crawford – the games were close, but Anna’s mind-blowing talent brought home a 6:8 win. Lucy Caines and Ulla (W1 doubles) played the first doubles of the day against Adam and Logan – practising the formations and calling for shots at the student tournament the night before paid off, and CURTC ladies achieved a 7:5 win in a close match. Following the doubles, our newest addition to the lovely group of CURTC Ladies – Isabelle Olaes – played her first ever match against George Aretakis. While George’s serves were challenging even to the more experienced players, Isabelle surprised us all with her fast learning and enthusiasm, and managed to win a whole game against George. Go Isabelle! Phoebe Fox (W2) made it look easy – middling the ball and hitting the tambour, she brought home two wins for Cambridge – singles against Bill Mackintosh (10:2) and doubles with Isabelle against Graham and George (10:4). Lucy’s singles was a close one, with a deciding game going to Jeremy Barnett, and the match finishing in 8:7. After a collective decision, Stacey Sandigrurskaia (W2) played her singles against Bill – a 6 points lower handicap – off level. Although finishing second, she was only one game away from winning the match – final score to Newmarket 6:7.
With the first 8 matches finishing in 4-4 between Newmarket and Cambridge, the winner of the fixture came down to the final match – a doubles between Anna and Stacey, and Graham and Jeremy. The game was intriguing – both the audience and the players kept their eyes closely on the ball and helped with the sound effects! With unbelievable volleys from the lawn tennis blues, Cambridge ladies took a win of 10:2, and the final score of the day was 5-4 to CURTCL.
It was a great day full of emotions, fun, and competition – we thank Newmarket for inviting us, Bill for organising, Andrew and Adam for marking, and Giraffe Club for the support! Looking forward to our next fixture against Newmarket!
Ulla Petti, CURTC Ladies Captain
CURTC At Narnia, Sunday, 19th Feb, circa 1950
Travel south for an hour then west for another and you’ll be met by a toll booth where admission to Narnia is gained only on the production of six florins. Payment made, its teenage guardian will uncaringly allow you to pass and only shrug when asked how you might find your destination. You journey on as the buildings age and the road cedes to a track just wide enough for a pony and trap. You drift back in time and the Tudor surroundings overwhelm you as the Hunter-wearing, dog-walking mothers and polo ponies stare disinterested as you pass. You turn around at least once, carefully avoiding the incongruous Maserati, but this time you do find the wooden signs, buried in the hedge. The welcome is warm and the open, wood-burning hearth is doing its best against the morning cold. Coffee is delivered to you weary travellers.
Tennis in Narnia is slow enough to have the one hour time limit invoked more than once and lunch is a generous, gentle and unhurried affair. The tennis had its highlights and no match was one-sided. That the rather fun day ended level was only fitting and, as we left, the world sped up again, gathering pace through Pangbourne and soon the motorways brought us back to the all too hurried real world.
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TK aka TR
Finals Day, Saturday February 18th
Please come along to the Club and support our worthy Finalists!
or image below..
Varsity Team Announcement
At the kind invitation of the Master of St John’s and CURTC member Herbie, the teams were introduced for this year’s Varsity Match sponsored by Pol Roger hosted by the MCC at Lords under the auspices of the Tennis & Rackets Association.
Looking forward to renewing our rivalries with the Other Place!! It all starts here in Cambridge with the 2nds Varsity on Feb 24/25 with the Varsity match at Lords a week later.
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A Hatfield Day Out, Sunday January 15th
Camice Revier’s win at 5 all, 40 all in the third to start the day followed by Alasdair Bovaird and Jonathan Wallach’s two set romp suggested the day was ours. And then it all went wrong. In true Cambridge fashion, Tony Revier and Alan Harris politely lost their 5 all, 40 all in the third match as the host’s last serve of the day hit a flat spot and died. It was probably an omen. Steve Chadwick and Nicholas Heath won their middle set 0/6 but lost the other two 6/5. Dave Pimblett had overtrained so in his stead Jin Lee paired with Christie Marian in their all too quick defeat. Over three sets Andrew Petrie won more games than his opponent but you know the rest.
Hatfield’s Joe Thompson wined and dined us very well all afternoon. That we lost overall should have been no surprise. We want to be invited back, after all! Also many thanks to Hatfield’s Pro (Jon), Team and Captain (Joe) for their warm welcome.
Over the weekend Camice never spoke of her nail biting victory once. Honestly. Not once.
Tony Revier
Dr Nigel Brown, O.B.E.
Sadly, we report that Nigel died peacefully on January 19th, 2023.
Nigel Brown @The Hyde, 2016
Nigel clearly believed in the old adage, that if something was worth doing, it was worth doing very well, and he was adept at persuading others to adopt that philosophy. He genuinely wanted the pleasure he derived from real tennis to be shared as widely as possible, and was constantly introducing others to the delights of the game, either as players, sponsors, or spectators. And all this was achieved with modesty and great good humour, and infused with a terrific sense of fun, without any sense of rush – so it was a shock to learn, or remember, that he was a man of so many other commitments, responsibilities and interests, deservedly recognised by, for examples, his O.B.E. (2008), his honorary doctorate from Anglia Ruskin University (2004), his appointment as High Sheriff for Cambridgeshire (2010/2011), or his Honorary Fellowship at Hughes Hall, or his Associateship of the Royal Academy of Music Then there is his successful business career, as the founder of N.W. Brown Group Ltd., the classical music agency Hazard Chase, the Stradivari Trust, and numerous Chairmanships of public bodies such as the Greater Cambridge Partnership and the Arts Theatre Trust. The list is seemingly endless, and I am only mentioning the areas that I became aware of through conversations over the fifty years or so of our friendship. For more detail, I think you will find the Hughes Hall posting, and the citation for Nigel’s doctorate from Anglia Ruskin, especially illuminating. Also, under the Stradivari Trust, the story of how Nigel came to acquire a Stradivarius for Nigel Kennedy.
Nigel was a wonderful companion, full of warmth and positivity, and a very generous man, especially with his time. He enjoyed fine wine, and introducing it to his guests. I remember one evening when we drank a delicious Chateau Palmer, a wine I’d tasted at the vineyard near Bordeaux earlier in the year, so precious that we had not been allowed to buy even one bottle. Something special, to be shared with friends. I find it hard to realise that Nigel, with all his dynamism, is no longer a part of the Cambridge and national scene. Fiona’s death coincided with a sudden decline in his own health, and in recent months he had been a shadow of his former unique personality. But he leaves a rich legacy. We send our sincere condolences to his son Ben, and to the rest of his family.
Peter Raby, former CURTC President
Fiona & Nigel @Canford in June 2016
National School Girls Level Singles and Doubles Championships U19 @Wellington 14/15 January 2023
Congratulations to Bella Harvey who reached the Final of the Singles and went one better by winning the Doubles!
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MCC vs Oxbridge
Arthur, Ollie & Jin
Last Saturday 14th Jan, Cambridge students were invited to play at the MCC courts at Lord’s. (So were Oxf*rd but that is insignificant #GDBO). All matches were played off-level, best out of 3 sets (3-3 in the final set). Despite an average of 6 handicap differences, all three Cambridge players put up an impressive fight.
I was the first one up for Cambridge facing MCC’s recent apprentice, Nat Cherry (36.4), winning the first set 6-4 but losing the next two 3-6 and 3-6. Much to learn yet a step closer to finding the rhythm of the game.
Arthur Adams (43.0) faced ever-so-calm Richard Lawrence (36.0). There were one too many outstanding rallies that left the audience in awe. Although Richard secured the match at 6-4/6-1, Arthur showed so much potential to be in a much lower handicap; it has certainly fired him up for the upcoming Varsity selection tournament.
Ollie Hilton (46.0) battled it out against a fast improver, Mark Clifford (42.5) who showcased an unorthodox yet superbly effective style. From the first set, we know this was going to be a marathon. Mark secured the first set 6-4, and started to dominate the second, reaching 5-1. Oliver was not ready to let this pass, however. He secured the next 5 games, winning the second 6-5. The third set was even more nail-biting, reaching 5-5; Mark’s relentless hitting found the base of the tambour every other shot, and won the third set and the match.
On behalf of the students, I would like to thank Simon Talbot-Williams (MCC match manager), Chris Bray (Head Pro), Nat Cherry (Apprentice) and the MCC players for their warm hospitality and insightful match advice during dinner.
Jin Lee, Men’s Captain 2022-2023
Giraffe Club Cup: Div 1 Final
[Update, link to Google Photos Album of the individual photos and more HERE]
I think no one would disagree that the Division 1 Final was the ‘match of the day’. Fresh from relatively easy semi final victories, Ed and Patrick took an early lead against Jin and Andy in spite of a substantial handicap disadvantage. However they never led by more than a couple of games and Jin and Andy finally coerced the odd mistake from their opponents and the score reached 7-all. Andy had the serve and three match points but crucially gave up a chase. A couple of Patrick’s volleys took the score to 40-all before Jin played one of the most outrageous lobs I have seen. It went so high, it disappeared from sight for those in the Dedans before creeping into the Dedans at such a steep angle it was all but unreturnable!
GCC2022, Final Division 1
While Andy kept his feet firmly on terra firma, Jin & Patrick had no such compunctions and treated us to some mind boggling volleying if you were quick enough to catch them. The collage doesn’t do them justice but …
Airborne!
Giraffe Club Cup Finals: Part 1
After the morning Group Stage, it was on to lunch and the Finals. Our semi opponents clearly lunched well and we succumbed without even a chase… But the other matches were much more interesting!
GTCC2022, Plate Final Division 2
ps several folks remarked that if the orange sweater’ed Howard had done a handstand he would essentially have disappeared!
GCC2022: Plate Final Division 1
GCC2022, Division 2 Final
Giraffe Club Cup, 26/11/22
Last Saturday saw the 2022 Giraffe Club Cup take place at CURTC. Almost all the pairs comprised of a student partnering a senior member. As you can imagine this led to some remarkably competitive tennis!
The morning comprised of the Group stage where four groups played a round robin to determine who played when during the afternoon. The camera was not everywhere but here are a couple of collages!
GCC2022, Group Stage (1)
GCC2022, Group Stage (2)
GCC2022, Group Stage (3)
All the results can be found HERE
More to come…
Intraclub Student Tournament
Finalists: Matthew Levine & Julius Gasson vs Igor Sterner & Danny Leboff
On Friday 11th November, our first student tournament was held. This was an exciting initiative driven by the new student committee members and aimed to foster an even more cohesive and inclusive environment at CURTC. We had a fantastic turnout with 4 pairs playing in a 20-minute timed Round Robin Stage. Despite the two captains’ desperate efforts to keep ahead, the weight of the heavily cut tennis balls were too much for their left-hands to handle. After some great tennis, two top pairs (Igor Sterner & Danny Leboff and Matthew Levine & Julius Gasson) battled through the finals. Igor’s fluid forehands kept the ball off the corners while Danny’s agility illuminated the dedans as we mere mortals watched on. Some may say it was a battle between a spear and a shield. After a series of intense rallies, Matthew and Julius shifted the gear and started to crack what seemed to be an unbreachable shield. Appearing calmer and collected as the games went on, Mathew and Julius developed a better strategy, utilising the chases. They went on to seal the last game in style, winning 6-5.
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The evening would not have been possible without the generous support from the Giraffe Club and students would like to thank the members as well as Andy Smith for their unquestionable care and empathy towards our mission of promoting friendly and inclusive club. Although not present on the day, our Pros continues to foster an open environment for students to develop their tennis both socially and competitively. So much goes behind the scenes and we, students, are forever grateful for their wisdom. We look forward to seeing even more students at our next event!
Jin Lee (Men’s Captain 2022/23)
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Cambridge vs The Oratory, Brodie Cup, 13/11/2022
Video starts with the 40 Singles
Congratulations to The Oratory!
CURTC is grateful for the support of our Sponsors…
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…and Supporter!
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Giraffe Club: CURTC Alumni
You Told Us….