The Roehampton Club welcomed a determined iPubs team for a perfect start to a Saturday morning: sunshine, grass courts, and 2 rounds of doubles. Roehampton, as expected, had fielded a strong team, but the iPubs men went in with a sense of optimism that an upset could be on the cards.

To kick things off, it was first pairs against seconds. The iPubs first pair of Ross Martin and Harry Burley bolted out the blocks to a first set lead, but sadly lost 4-6 7-6 10-8 - defeat from the jaws of victory it seemed. Jerry Ganendra and Charlie Lilley of the iPubs second pair put up a valiant fight against the Roehampton firsts, but that sadly wasn’t enough as they fell with a 6-2 6-2 defeat.

Undeterred by the tough first round, the iPubs re-suncreamed, rehydrated, and rallied for the second round. Ross and Harry couldn’t the find the level needed against a strong Roehampton first pair and lost 6-1 6-3, due to a particularly good showing from a US college-bound Roehampton youngster (we hope he doesn’t replicate that next year). Jerry and Charlie put up a good comeback in the second set but Roehampton were too good on the day and toppled the iPubs men 6-1 6-4.

Despite the 4-0 loss, iPubs put up a strong fight and kept their heads up, with the prevailing thought being: “How can we win this tie next year?” - grass court training sessions are already being scheduled.

A massive thank you to The Roehampton Club for hosting this great match and we hope to see you next year!