Bowman collapse gives Lonergan shock win

David Bowman collapsed out of nowhere to give Sean Longeran a shock 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win at Battersea Park. Bowman started the first set tightly, being broken in the opening game and struggling to match Lonergan. In typical fashion, however, Bowman managed to get himself back in the set, and clinched it 6-4. That should have set Bowman on course for the win, but instead a mental breakdown came about, putting Bowman 5-1 down. The forehand crumbled, and Bowman had no ammunition. Resorting to slices and drop-shots, Bowman managed get the set back to 5-5, and with momentum back with him, the match should have been his. However, the forehand failed to fire, and the players traded breaks to take it into a tiebreak. Here, just one mini-break by Lonergan was enough to level the match. The third set started equally as bad, with Bowman being broken immediatley. This proved to be fatal, as Bowman could find no way back. Despite saving match point on serve at 5-2, he was broken in the next game to land him a rare defeat.

"I don't know what happened. It's never happened before," said Bowman. "Full credit to Sean, but I lost that match; he didn't win it."

Bowman eases to first win

David Bowman got the summer campaign off to a perfect start with a comfortable 6-1, 6-3 win over Farouk "Raz" Razvi at Magdalen. Although not reaching his best throughout the match, Bowman looked good enough, and wrapped up the first set comfortably. The second set was a tighter affair, but Bowman broke mid-way to go 4-2 up. A wayward game with a few missed forehands gave Raz the break back, but Bowman regained his form to ease to victory.

"It was a good start," said Bowman afterwards. "He is very steady and took advantage of my, at times, sloppy forehand. Nevertheless he's a great guy to play; I just wish they were all as friendly!"