Bowman pips Roberts to take B2 title

More to follow soon....

Bowman wins vital match

David Bowman carved out a hugely important 6-3, 6-2 win against Paul Stewart at Wigmore. Bowman, playing on the artificial clay, was slow to start and broken immediatley. Bowman soon got going however, playing with more topspin and becoming less aggressive. Cutting out the errors, Bowman was able to fightback to take the set.

Bowman looked far more relaxed in the second set. With drop shots starting to frustrate Stewart, Bowman knew he had the match under control and cruised through the set 6-2.

"A big win," said Bowman afterwards. "He's my main rival at the moment and I knew I would have to play well to beat him. I felt more comfortable than I have done before on the clay, which is important as I may be playing James on it shortly."

Bowman fights back to beat Doolan

David Bowman ground out a hard fought 2-6, 6-4, 10-5ctb win over Pat Doolan at Brockwell Park. Playing in abysmal conditions, Bowman was rattled at first, and had no answer to Doolan's mix of lethal serves and ground stokes. With Doolan hitting forehand winners off both sides, Bowman normal attacking game was made redundant, and Doolan wrapped up the set comfortably. With the rain coming down much harder in the second set, Bowman made a crucial break midway, and served for the set at 5-3. Doolan found form, however, and broke back. Bowman managed to break again through to take the set on his third set point. Due to the conditions, both players agreed to play a championship tiebreak. An early mini-break put Bowman in command, and Bowman cruised through to win the match with a lovely backhand volley.

"I'm relieved," said Bowman afterwards. "I was out of the match at the start but somehow managed to claw myself back in. He's so difficult to play; you come in on his backhand and he passes you with a forehand!"

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!"

Summer League gets underway

The Summer 2010 edition of the South London Tennis League has started, with local hero David Bowman in B2. Bowman, who will be playing alongside some of the big names including Gavin Rose and Pat Doolan, was rated third-favourite by organiser Ron Gray, with odds of 5/2. "I'm looking forward to getting back to the SLTL", said Bowman. "There will be some tough matches, and perhaps I can put an end to Doolan's 102 matches since losing a 0-6 set!".

The league runs until Sunday 31st October, with the bonus point deadline Sunday 5th September.

Confirmation of results

Having received the offical results for B3, it was confirmed that David Bowman was top of B3 on 23 points. James Roberts was second on 21 points. Wins and sets difference were equal, but Roberts had the better games difference. Roberts, unlike Bowman, however, failed to get his bonus points, putting Bowman two points clear.

The next league runs from 19th July - 31st October.