Nott 76 67 into 3rd
Skup def bam 63 10 ret

Nott lost 63 in the 3rd
Flan lost 1st set

Skupski is a really great player

he'll be better than Ken i reckon! did well in qualies here last year

The email was NOT the draw...just todays result....sorry.

Hope nothing is seriously wrong with Bamford, but it gives Skupski-the-younger a shot at qualifying here, although I'd expect him to lose to Beck who looked in great form with his thrasing in round 1.

Great win for Kinsella as well, and hope he can beat Eichenberger and make the main draw, as if he can get onto the grass he'll become a lot more dangerous than he is on the indoor courts, and being the local lad he'll get all the support from the crowd (probably should have gone for the easy points in Frinton, but obviously wants to play infront of his home crowd)

Ok here's Gazz's reaction to today's matches:

Got to The Northern bit later than expected due to hangover! So missed the 1st sets for the only 2 1st round matches. Was much different this year as it was sunny and not as many players trying to qualify!
Round 1
Kinsella bt Harfield ? 4-4 Ret - Much improved performance from Harfield to last year and looked to be matching Kinsella hit for hit. When Jonny broke Chris it looked all over but then at 4-3 Harfield broke back. When he punched the air to celebrate he striaght away fell down holding his wrist. I think he may of trapped a nerve in there. I feel confident though that Kinsella will push hard into tournaments
Flanagan bt Dickson 6-2 6-2 - Flanagan very consistant and hits a mean backhand. He can speed up and slow the game down very well and it still baffles me that he isn't a regular on the Challenger circuit. He has the shots and fitness to stay there. Dickson got himself too down on points and always looked on back foot.

Round 2
Raja(8) bt Johnston 6-0 6-2 - Didnt watch much of this due to the epic match on the other court, but poor Alex was taken to the cleaners. If being brutally honest, Raja doesnt look like a professional tennis player, but has some fantastic passing shots. Kept coming to the net and in the 1st set Alex hardly won a point. In the 2nd set Alex came into it more and actually won both his games on Raja'a serve. If he's going to take his game forward he needs to learn how to adapt his game to hit the oppenent.

Ysern(4) bt Hooshyar 6-7(1) 7-6(1) 6-2 - Has to be close for match of the day. How did Chris let this slip. He played so well. His serve is a real weapon and if we need any evidence that going off to the US Uni's help a player then he is a great example. Chris will follow Kinsella and Ken into the circuit and will do well. Where he lost this game was that Ysern looked down and out at a set down and break up at 4-2 in the second. Ysern got a warning for losing his temper and that is when Chris should of attacked, but stepped off slightly and Ysern came back into it. Such a shame as Chris deserved to go through.

Sletting-Johnsen bt Iannuzzi 6-4 6-3 - Had good support mainly from the Skupski camp. Really nice girlfriend, who I think is a Skupski as she looked like Neal. Apparently she is his lucky charm, and it worked today. Iannuzzi didnt look there despite a good start. Again my main attention was on the other court epics, but Sletting will prob qualify.

Cakl(2) bt Nott 7-6(1) 6-7(4) 6-3 - Again was lucky enough to be standing by some of Nott's camp and learnt that he's a local lad from Bolton. He's out in America and just finished his first year there. And again its done him the world of good as this lad was the find of the day. He really pushed the world number 376. There were some really dodgy calls in this game, but what impressed me the most of Chris was that he doesnt give up. On several occasions he was 0-40 down on his serve but came back to win. He actually faced 3 mp's in the 2nd set but saved them all. Cakl tried some old tricks with line calls and slowing the game down, but for Chris' first ever senior game he should be very proud. Wrong person won here.

Skupski bt Bamford(6) 6-3 1-0 ret - Bam Bam didnt look comfortable as soon as he walked on court. He had supports on both ankles and it was his right one that seemed to be giving him the problem. He also was holding his thigh a lot so maybe tight groin. Think the run to the semi's this week took its toll on him. The trainer was summoned at 2-1 and you could see he wasnt going to last. However, Neal did still play well. He isn't as tall as Ken but has some sweet hits.

Beck(1) bt Jackson 6-0 6-1 - Ah poor old Seb. You play in your local tournament which you've done every year and who do you come up against but the number 1 seed and former top 50 player! Seb actually played ok, but Beck was immense. He just got everything right. He seems like a really nice guy as well. Seb actually plays for another club rather than The Northern, but enters the quallies every year.

Eichenberger(7) bt Flanagan 6-4 7-5 - Injury I'm afraid took its toll here. It is a shame that Flan had to play a match earlier on in the day despite all the byes. Again I was lucky enough to be in the Flan camp and apparently he has a blood clot in the stomach, so is in some pain whilst playing as you can imagine. The club owner/doctor was even called courtside to assist and he said he shouldnt be playing, but Ian stuck at it. Was serving to stay in a tight 1st set and then lost serve. In the 2nd he was serving for the set at 5-4 but dropped it and then lost the next 2 games. As mentioned before it's a shame as he has some talent.

All in all it was a great day with soem good tennis. I wanted to chat to few more of the players, but nerves got the better of me! lol. Did have a weird moment when guy comes in and stands near us who I recognised. Was trudging memory thinking have I worked him him, footy etc when finally clicked was James Ward! lol. Not going to go tomorrow due to the lack of qualifiers meaning there will only be 4 games. Today though showed that in a few years we could have some guys going for the challengers in Hooshyar, Nott, N Skupski and Kinsella.

I will be going when the main draw starts and will try find some balls and speak to some of the players, so if anyone has any questions you'd like me to put forward just PM me. Also, if anyone can tell me how to get my press pass can they let me know.