Just before the start of Michaelmas Term 2024, a combined Oxford men’s (Lorenzo C, Jack P, Sam C) and women’s Blues (Anna J, Sama M, Holly R) team headed off to the French Riviera to the famous clay courts of the Monte Carlo Country Club, home of the annual Monte Carlo Masters 1000 tournament, to compete in the HEC European University Invitational Clay Court Championships.
The trip began on Thursday afternoon, with the team flying from Heathrow to Nice, where they stayed the night. On Friday morning, following a quick pit stop at Lidl, which frustrated French locals due to the resulting shortage of pain au chocolats and bananas, the team took the bus from Nice to Monaco. Upon arrival at the club, the Oxford players were not only welcomed by the host university, HEC Paris, but also by a brief thunderstorm which brought heavy rain across the principality. With the storm rendering the clay courts unplayable, delaying the start of the tennis to the Saturday, the only option for the Oxford team was to head down to the nearest beach, to have a swim in the Mediterranean. Following the swim, the team returned to the country club, where they were able to enjoy a fantastic meal, provided through the generosity of an alumnus of HEC Paris. The meal also gave the Oxford team a fantastic opportunity to meet players from other universities across Europe.
Saturday morning brought mild and crucially dry weather, which enabled the tennis to begin. The first group stage match for the Oxford team was against the Italian university Bocconi. Holly Russell opened for the Oxford team in the women’s singles match, unfortunately losing after a hard fought battle with an experienced Italian singles player. Luckily, Oxford had their own Italian clay court specialist in the form of Lorenzo Catini, who balanced the tie at 1-1 after a convincing win in straight sets. This left Jack Pickering and Sama Malik battling it out in the deciding mixed doubles match, where they ultimately lost out in a close third set, leaving the final score as 2-1 to Bocconi. Following a hearty lunch and much deliberation, team coach Brendan Emmanuel decided key substitutions were required for the second group stage match against Trinity College Dublin. This gave Anna Jones the call up for the women’s singles, albeit against a player who had been part of the Irish Fed Cup team. After a tough but competitive women’s singles, with Oxford trailing Trinity 1-0, the mixed doubles was a different story. Sam Christie, Oxfordshire county player and doubles specialist, was subbed in to play with Sama, giving Oxford a convincing 4-0 4-0 win, reproducing the excellent mixed doubles which got them to the final of the OULTC Club Championships mixed doubles earlier in the year. With the fixture tied at 1-1, Catini was battling hard in a deciding 3rd set against his Irish opponent. After getting an early break of serve, and then somehow managing to hold his own serve, after hitting more double faults than there are yachts in the Monte Carlo marina, Catini pulled through and won the set, giving Oxford the overall 2-1 win, meaning the team had qualified for the semi finals.
After the conclusion of play on Saturday, the team decided another trip to the beach was required, and they were joined by their Cambridge counterparts, who they would be facing in the semi finals the next day. After the swim, the Oxford Blues blazers came out as the team headed back to the country club for the gala night, where an extensive banquet awaited them. Following an inspiring speech from the Finance Minister of Monaco, the teams headed out to the Monte Carlo Casino. Despite no one putting their entire student loan for the year on red, the team enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere inside the grand building, which is arguably the biggest attraction which Monte Carlo boasts.
Fortunately, the Sunday morning brought more dry weather. Following the success of the match against Trinity, the lineup remained unchanged, commencing with Catini in the men’s singles. Unfortunately, after two hard battles on the clay the day before, the ailing Italian couldn’t maintain his form, losing out to Cambridge’s Patrick Foley in an exciting showcase of clay court tennis. Meanwhile, the mixed doubles saw Christie and Malik resuming the solid performance they had displayed the previous day, taking the first set against the Cambridge pair. However, after losing a tight second set and a nervy match tie break, Christie and Malik were defeated in what was certainly the highest level mixed doubles match across the weekend. In the women’s singles, Anna Jones fought hard, eventually falling to her Cambridge opponent after many long rallies on the Monégasque clay courts. This gave Cambridge the 3-0 win, avenging their 3-0 defeat to Oxford in last year’s final.
After yet another fabulous and filling lunch, coach Emmanuel rallied the team to get them ready for the 3rd/4th playoff, which was a rematch against Trinity College Dublin. The ever reliable pair of Christie and Malik kicked off the tie with a tidy three set victory in the mixed doubles. Meanwhile, with Catini out of action due to a shoulder injury, Pickering subbed in for the men’s singles, ultimately falling 10-8 in the 3rd set tie break. The deciding women’s singles match saw Holly Russell coming back into the lineup, finishing the weekend in style by winning convincingly in straight sets to secure 3rd place for Oxford.
The team would all like to thank HEC Paris and its generous alumni for inviting OULTC for yet another unforgettable weekend at the tournament. Hopefully, the fantastic relationship between OULTC and the other university tennis clubs at the event can continue for many years to come!
Written by Jack Pickering.
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