End of term tennis success

We had a lot of tennis over the last week of term, the ISTA Championships at Eton College followed by the National Finals with our Senior Boys team.

Eton ISTA Championships

At the end of term a number of our top tennis players spent four days at Eton College to compete at the ISTA Championships. It was the first time in a number of years that this event was able to run and we were thrilled with the attitude, behaviour and performance of all our pupils.

The competition was fierce and our senior and junior teams performed very well, holding their own with some of the best players in the country. Notable wins were picked up against some strong schools such as KCS Wimbledon, New Hall, Millfield, Epsom, Sevenoaks to name a few).

Senior Girls
Our Senior girls (Dasha & Flora, Anna & White) all qualified for the knockout stages after winning several matches in the group stages (wins against New Hall, RGS Newcastle, KCS Wimbledon). Anna & Izzy managed to make the quarter finals after winning their first knockout match, a great achievement for two pupils playing in a U19 event. 

Senior Boys 
Our team of Toby, Max, James and Freddie played a great quality match with KCS Wimbledon in the first round, losing out 2-0 overall after some close sets of tennis. After that, they got a comprehensive 2-0 win over Rugby before ending their tournament with a defeat to Colston's. 

Junior Girls
The junior girls played in a round-robin format before splitting off into different competitions. Millie and Ailsa played very well and after winning tough matches, including a win against renowned tennis school Millfield, made it all the way to the semi-finals of the Springthorpe Cup. 

Elspeth and Serene were the other two players in our U15 team and showed how much they have developed over the summer to play great matches with Queenswood, Marlborough, Bradfield and Leicester Grammar).

Junior Boys
Our team of Rob, Tom, Olly and Art were rewarded for their performances in our U14 team year and went to Eton a year early to gain experience and practice against quality opposition. 

They were in good form and handled themselves very well against some terrific tennis players from schools such as Abingdon, Epsom and St George's (who went on to win the whole event).  

Senior Boys - National School Finals
During the final few days of term and into the holidays our Senior Boys 1^st Team travelled to Nottingham to play in the LTA National Finals. Most of the team went straight from the four-day Eton tournament into another four-day event with even tougher opposition which was an amazing effort. Some of the players competing had travelled straight from Junior Wimbledon to represent their schools so that should give some indication to the level of tennis on display!

Our team over the four days was Toby, Max, Angus, Rob and Freddie (Carlos & Finlay also played in a crucial win along the way). The team all played singles and doubles at the wonderful Nottingham Tennis Centre, they played some of the best tennis we have seen and handled the environment and the quality of opponents superbly. It was a fantastic experience and the team performed to their absolute maximum in their matches with Trent College, Bedes, Clifton College and Warwick School. They were exemplary in their behaviour and credit to the school.

For St Peter's to reach the National Tennis Finals, as one of the top 16 schools in the country, alongside schools such as Millfield, Reed's and Culford is fantastic for the profile of tennis at the school and a reward for the effort the team has put in throughout the year.