10&U Girls County Cup 2026
Team: Evy Dorman, Amelia Kahn, Grace Parr, Sadhvi Venkat, Maha Kalyani Devi
Captain: Tom Edis
Assistant: Robyn Went
Group D: Surrey, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire
Venue: Westside Tennis Club
Bucks fielded a strong team for this year’s 10&Under qualifying event at Westside Tennis Club, right next to Wimbledon itself. In very warm conditions, the team took on Surrey, Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire in what proved to be a very challenging group.
Day 1 saw us play Oxfordshire and then Herts, with singles first, followed by the doubles. Sadhvi came through a really tight rubber against Oxfordshire, playing some unbelievable tennis to give Bucks a winning start 4-3(4) 0-4 10-4. Even as the youngest in the team she showed incredible resilience and heart that was a fantastic example to her teammates. However, Oxfordshire were strong. Despite valiant efforts from Grace (2-4 0-4), Amelia (0-4 0-4) and Evy (2-4 0-4), Oxfordshire would take a commanding lead heading into the doubles later in the day. The girls put up a tremendous fight, and were unlucky not to get more, but lessons were learned before Herts became the next singles opponents.
Again Sadhvi came out of the blocks fast and put in an outstanding performance as Bucks’ #4 player again; taking apart her Herts counterpart in straight sets 4-2 4-2, raising her own level in the process. However, the strength in depth Herts showed was evident in the remaining singles rubbers, as Grace, Amelia and Evy all lost in straight sets. It was frustrating as all 3 had their chances to win, but the ‘no ad’ scoring was brutal. 3-1 Herts.
And so to the doubles, where there was hope Bucks could claw back their respective deficits. Grace and Sadhvi teamed up to tremendous effect against Oxfordshire - displaying so many of the Bucks doubles values such as teamwork, resilience and fantastic communication. Their reward was a super close win 4-3(7) 1-4 10-8. Knife edge stuff! Sadly Evy and Amelia couldn’t really get going in their own doubles rubber and lost 4-0 4-0 to hand the overall match result to Oxfordshire 4-2.
The doubles versus Herts rounded off day 1. Maha came in to play with Sadhvi while Evy teamed up with Grace. Again it was competitive. Maha and Sadhvi fought so hard and showed some inspired net play, but alas Herts were so consistent and gave away very little, beating the Bucks pair in the end 4-1 4-1. This left Evy and Grace to at least get a consolation win in their own rubber. They came mighty close, just being pipped in the second set breaker after playing so well having dropped the opening set - Herts eventual 4-1 4-3(2) win giving them a resounding 5-1 victory overall.
It was tough on Bucks, but spirits remained high going into day 2.
Surrey were the remaining opponent of the weekend on day 2, and as results showed the previous day, they were pretty formidable; both Herts and Oxfordshire had been dispatched easily. Even so Bucks were determined to give a good account of themselves and round off the event positively. It was tough going. Sadhvi once again showed what an excellent prospect she is as a player playing ‘up’ a year, running her opponent close in 2 tight sets before eventually succumbing 4-2 4-1. Unfortunately that was as good as it got: Grace, Amelia and Evy could only manage 2 more games between them in the remaining singles rubbers, as Surrey stepped on the accelerator to gain the results required to top the group overall. It was a harsh lesson but ultimately inspiring for the Bucks players to see what the level really is at the sharp end of the age group.
With the tie gone and nothing to lose Bucks attacked the doubles rubbers in relaxed mood. Maha teamed up with Amelia and started to show real bravery at the net and work well as a team. Their 4-0 4-1 reverse was closer than it looked. Finally Maha came in to play with Evy in the remaining rubber of the weekend in an entertaining contest that provided chances for Bucks to take the lead on a few occasions. In the end Surrey’s power and experience won out as they repeated the score of the other doubles rubber to finally win 4-0 4-1 again.
Lessons learned from a very promising Bucks team that very definitely have the capacity to improve significantly in the coming months as they move out of 10&U and into 11&U for next year.