Latest News & Results

Finals Day, the culmination of the club’s summer tournament, was held on Saturday, September 13th, delivering several thrilling matches to keep the spectators entertained.

Both the Ladies’ and Men’s Singles matches were three-set epics that promised to go the distance. In a repeat of last year’s final, Daphne Lunnon (the defending champion) was challenged by Sandra Ayres, who eventually won 7–5, 5–7, 6–4. In the Men’s Singles, John Stone won the first set 6–4, then Tom Baker took the second 7–6. Unfortunately, after a nasty fall while up 4–3 in the deciding set, John had to concede the match to Tom.

The Men’s Doubles was also a repeat of last year, with the same result: Andy Constantinou and his son Sam beat James Thorpe and Dan Warwick 6–0, 6–1. In the Ladies’ Doubles, the new pairing of Carol Cook and Marta Hensall took on last year’s runners-up, Diane Brown and Daphne Lunnon. Despite some long rallies, Carol and Marta won 6–2, 6–2.

Daphne Lunnon and John Stone were scheduled to play Caroline White and Adrian Olver in the Mixed Doubles Plate, but due to John’s earlier fall, they had to concede the match, giving the win to Caroline and Adrian. The Men’s Singles Plate was won by Andy Constantinou in a walkover after his opponent pulled out before the match.

Thunder, lightning, and rain prevented the Mixed Doubles final between Chris Bailey/Rik Lim and Diane Brown/Phil Dillon from being completed on the day. The match was played later in the month, with Diane Brown and Phil Dillon emerging as the winners.

The Ollie Toms Trophy for the most improved player was presented to Andrew Arnold.

I am very pleased to announce that our teams playing in the Essex Small Clubs league have faired very well over the summer! We entered 5 teams in the league which includes up to 20 local clubs & 3 of our teams have topped their division this summer! So many congratulations to our Mixed Div 2, Ladies Div 2 & Men’s Div 2 for their wins. This is a great achievement for a small club & demonstrates the quality of play currently at our club, given some of our competitors are not so small, like Harlow & Bishop’s Stortford.

Whilst this shows a great level of commitment from all our team players, the unsung heroes are undoubtedly the team captains: Gee, Daphne, Debbie, Jess & Jon! The effort that goes into arranging (& often rearranging) matches, coping with inclement weather & last minute problems is often overlooked…..so a big shout out of thanks to all of them!

We go forward into the winter season with the same 5 teams entering, so fingers crossed for more success. If you would be interested in playing in inter-club matches, please get in touch with me by replying to this email. Each team plays about 8 matches per season, but shared out can equate to only a few each, according to availabilty.

Here’s to next season!

Gail Hogg

ESCL Co-ordinator

Congratulations to the winners of today’s Kitson trophy, Marta Hensall and, new to trophy matches, Austin Sewell, who beat Clare Murfitt and Rick Lim.
Also, congrats to Patrick Rogers and Felicity Rowe, who won a close consolation match against Kate Hucknall and Andrew Arnold.
All the matches were played in great spirit despite very windy conditions.

Well done to the 14 ladies who competed in the final fun tournament of the year, held in some rather warm conditions! Congratulations to Carol and Chris, who defeated Daphne and Debbie 6-1 and to the consolation winners Gail and Louise, who just got the better of Lyn and Sue 4-3.

Sixteen ladies played on a beautifully sunny (but very windy) day on Saturday, 14th September, in a fun ladies-only tournament.  Everyone brought a contribution of food. 
The final was an exceptionally close match, with Chris Bailey and Louise Chalk just pipping Marta Hensall and Gail Hogg 6-5 to win.  The consolation prize was won by partners Catherine Gibby and Val Ashwood, who beat Sue Simpson and Dina McDonald 4-1. 
A great day was had by all and was finished off with Chris donating her prize of a bottle of bubbly for everyone to share. The next ladies-only tournament is on Friday, 15th August 2025.

The Pearce Trophy was contested in great spirit today, Sunday 18th May. The winners were Marta Hensall and Rick Lim, who triumphed over John Stone and Louise Chalk in a hard-fought match, ultimately winning 6-3. The consolation winners were David Murfitt and Catherine Gibby, who defeated Daphne Lunnon and Grace Crossley with a score of 4-1.
Congratulations to all the players for their sportsmanship and for providing delicious refreshments!

Congrats to Sandra and Clare, who beat Fiona and Gail today in the ladies’ tournament. Also, congratulations to Val and Chris for winning the consolation prize.

Also, thanks to Gail for organising a wonderful day and for the money raised from the clothing sale.

Ten of the players who played in the Ladies Essex Small League over the winter got together for a Pokeno (type of bingo with prizes) evening at Gail and Jamie’s house on Monday 31 April 2025. Flowers were presented to Gail to thank her for running the Essex Small Club League on behalf of STC for the year 2024/25.
Everyone brought food and drink to share and a great evening was had by all.

This is to notify you of the forthcoming Annual General Meeting of the Stansted Tennis Club, which will be held on Thursday, 20 February 2025, at 8.00 pm, in The Clubhouse, Cambridge Road, CM24 8BX. 

Please check your email for the agenda.

Last Sunday sixteen players entered the annual Jim Kitson Trophy competition. Winners of the trophy were Marta Hensall and David Murfitt who defeated Daphne Lunnon and Zoe Westwood 6-1. Rick Lim and Sue Simpson were winners of the consolation round, defeating Gail Hogg and Jon Budd in a close final 4-3. Despite cloudy weather, everyone enjoyed the competition as well as the bring-and-share lunch.

In remembrance of Ollie Toms, the contestants wore mainly blue and a minute’s silence was observed.