I thought it may be of interest if I blogged a bit from the U18's County Cup group one event which is taking place this weekend at the University of Bath. I was there both today and yesterday so thought I'd give a bit of an incite into the up and coming Briitish tennis stars of tomorrow.

To be honest this will mostly be about the boys group, due in part to the fact that it was like a war zone and I couldn't leave the ebtertainment, along with the fact there was no comparsion in standard between the boys and the girls. 

Day 1 - Friday 19th Feb

The second I walked in on day one, it all kicked off. Kent were playing Lancashire and it was aclose affair with Kent eventually coming through 5-4. As I arrived, Lewis Burton was on serve in the second set against Michael Nott. To say there was a lot of testosterone kicking around the centre would be an understatement. It was loud!.
The Kent team were incredibly loud and were screaming for both their player and against the opposition. They were pretty crazy but it seems that all the teams were pretty vocal in general. Both Nott and Burton were 2 of the better players on show over the first two days and both have, in my opinion, a lot of potential.
Burton broke Nott and went onto to serve out the second set to win in straight. Generally the tennis was close and of a high level.

Lewis Burton is a tall lad (6'2 ish) with no real weekness from what I could see. Good serve, good forehand, very good single handed backhand

Michael Nott had a very good looking game. Huge serve, big forehand, good one handed backhand and generally speaking an ok attitude on court from what could see. Very similar game to Dan Smethurst in most instances.

While this match was going on, Oliver Golding was playing doubles in a dead rubber, as Middlesex had already beaten Surrey after the singles were played. At first glance, he didn't look spectacular, solid all round game but after watching a couple of points where he showed some good touch at the net, I was pretty impressed. Then on the returns, he unleased a couple of massive double handed backhands, easily his biggest weapon.
In the doubles, he was playing against Stefan Sterland-Makovic, who I seen previously at Futures qualifying events. He also looked pretty solid but with no massive weapon. He was incredibly focused and driven throughout the couple of matches I saw him play and that seemed to be lacking in a few of the others.

Before the end of day one, I did turn around and walk the 2 metres across the balcony to watch the girls event. To be honest, I didn't watch for long as the standard didn't seem to be as strong. There were no highly ITF world ranked girls playing, unlike the boys and no one I'd really heard of. I presume a lot of the top girls are already focusing on world ranking events at this age. There were mostly doubles matches when I was watching, and I hate to be negative, but there were very few girls that could actually volley (or wanted to). Whilst a couple of the pairs chose to both play at the baseline, those that did play at the net, really didn't want the volley, and when it came, they had a 50-50 chance of getting the ball into the court. There was one exception (I don't know her name, sorry) who was serve and volleying on a lot of her points. She wasn't particularly successful but fair play to her for having a good go and attempting to play better doubles.


Day 2 - Saturday 20th Feb

I got to the event and suddenly it all went crazy. Little did I know that day 1 was calm in comparison to day 2. Middlesex were on against team yob (Kent). Oliver Golding(Middlesex) was playing against Michael Nott (Kent). Nott was a break up in the second but a set down and all the Kent players were shouting down at him after each point. I mentioned to my mate about this and he said they had been noisy all day. Surprisingly to me, rather than ignore them, Golding was shouting back and generally pretty distracted. Nott, who seemed to be calm and pretty focused throughout, kept it tight and served out the second set. Throughout the third, the umpire (Bill Perkins) was called on about line calls and several other issues. To say it was entertaining would be an understatement. It was brilliant, like watching a Davis Cup final but held in a school playground. At one stage, one of the Kent boys from the next court's doubles match, came across and stood in front of Golding, stopping play because he thought Golding had called a bad call. Generally, it was commented by a lot of spectators, that everyone was against Golding (even the players from other counties were cheering on Nott). I can only presume this was because he was the highest ranked player there or maybe a clash of personalities. Nott played impressively and hit some cracking winners off both wings in the third, taking it 6-4.

On the next court to this, it all kicked off in one of the Middlesex/Kent doubles matches. At times, it was a bit like a pantomine, with players throwing rackets, sitting on the floor etc. It took the ref a good 5-10 minutes to get play going again after it all kicked off between the teams. At one stage, the same lad who had stopped Golding playing earlier, went over to Goulding up close and gave him a tirade of verbal abuse. Nice!

At the same time as this match, Lancashire were playing Surrey. With the counties tied at 3 matches all, Lewis Burton was on serve in the third against Surrey No.1 Joe Salisbury. Burton's team mates were pretty vocal as were the Surrey team but I found myself cheering on Salisbury who was easily the most mature and controlled player I'd seen playing singles all weekend. The match was a classic - Burton played mostly from the baseline whilst Salisbury served and volleyed off everything. It was a tight final set, but Burton broke in the final game to win it 7-5. Really good tennis.

Joe Salisbury was great to watch. One of the few singles players that I saw, who behaved impeccible. His serve volleying was great to watch especially his volleying. It was a shame that he didn't mix it up a little more though and stay back as well. Burton could see it coming a lot of the time. A name to look out for though. He reminded me a lot of Johnny Marray.


Generally speaking, I would recommend to anyone to go and watch the county cup event if it comes to your area. Generally though, I was staggered at the behaviour of a lot of the teams and the fact that their captains stood watching and some joining in. I have been to county cups in the past, and know that teams are pretty loud and supportive. I have never been to a group 1 event and obviously its a lot more competitive and intense than the lower groups, but at times, I really felt for the referee who had to deal with a lot of very poor behaviour considering these were the players who potentially may want to play professionally.

To be honest, it was a bit of a shock that these players are the cream of the crop of British boys tennis and its potential future. With a few exceptions, the behaviour both on and off court from the boys was pretty embarrassing and unprofessional.

Good level of tennis though and very good entertainment!