Earlier this month East Glos member Chris Morrow was crowned champion of Aegon Winter National Tour Finals
The 16-year-old beat Shakeel Manji from Kettering 7-5 6-2 in a competitive final to cap an excellent week for the Gloucestershire youngster.
Chris Morrow
To be part of this tournament you must have performed well in the circuit of tournaments taking place all over the country during the winter season. The Masters is a Grade 1 tournament, the highest grade of tournament in British tennis. The only other tournament of this calibre is summer nationals.
Winning this time made it a nice double for Chris, an East Glos member for eight years, as in 2011 he was victorious in the 14&U Masters. Behind all young performers are incredibly committed and supportive parents and Chris is no different. George, his father, was there to drive him to the National Tennis Centre, be company for him each evening at the hotel, and act as someone to talk through the game plan with, someone to talk to after the match and someone to support him during each match over the three days.
George Morrow comments on how the tournament unfolded.
1st February – Day1
Chris Morrow v Paul Midgley 6-4 6-3
Chris’s first opponent was 6’4” tall; a big hitter with his serve being his outstanding weapon. They both showed signs of nerves in this first match of the finals resulting in a few loose shots on both sides. However there was also some big serving, crashing forehand and backhand shots, good volleying and returns of serve. Ultimately Chris proved to be the stronger player. Paul went on to win the consolation final.
2nd February – Day 2
Quarter- final
Chris Morrow v Dan Gilbert 6-4 6-4
Dan is 2 years older than Chris and whilst not tall is of sturdy build. Dan did not have any exceptional shot but was very athletic and solid in performance. Of note in the match both players stood in whilst returning serve. The match was good although not spectacular and throughout it always seemed that Chris had the edge and so it proved.
Semi-final
Chris Morrow v Piers Farhang 6-2 6-3
Piers is a year younger than Chris but the same height . He had proved his worth in a hard hitting 3 set quarter-final match in which he knocked out the second seed Kyle Fellows. Chris quickly went 4-0 up and in the fifth game he served 4 straight (line ball) aces. When he sat down at the end of this game there was some uncharacteristic emotion from Chris – with the broadest grin one could imagine. It did however seem to break Chris’s concentration and he lost the next 2 games before closing out the set.
The second set produced a bit more resolve from Piers but throughout Chris was the dominant player. The biggest incident of the match came on match point with Chris on his second serve. Officials came out onto all the courts saying the building had to be evacuated due to a fire. Despite this Chris served, Piers return hit the top of the net cord, the ball rolled along the top of the cord for several inches before falling back onto Piers’ side – match won and a quick evacuation due to a smoking chip pan. The impression of the match was that Chis gave Piers a master class with his variety of shots never allowing Piers to settle and this, coupled with his excellent serving, made for a very satisfying performance.
3rd February – Day 3
The Final
Chris Morrow v Shakeel Manji 7-5 7-2
Shakeel has been a top junior player for many years having spent over 2 years in a Spanish academy. On day 2 he beat two very big, strong, aggressive players including top seed Adam Glynn. In the first few games Chris came out with some very good play but was too erratic and went 0-3 down. Chris then settled down and reduced his errors. Although Chris hit the ball hard it was again his variety of play and strong serving performance (he was only broken once in the match) that gave him the edge.
At 5 all in the first set Chris broke and then held serve to win the set. Shakeel won the first game of the second set but then Chris became increasingly dominant. There were some fantastic rallies and some of Chris’s service returns were outstanding. This was matched by some despondency from Shakeel as he had no answer. Chris won the next 5 games and it could have been 6 but he made a couple of errors and Shakeel held to make it 5-2. Chris then comfortably served out to win the match and tournament.
Conclusion
This was an excellent tournament for Chris and there is no doubt his performance improved each match. My impression as a totally biased proud father was that all his matches were within his control – he was the better player in all his matches, they were consistently over quicker than other matches at the same stage (the final was on about 1.5 hours the second set being about 30 minutes). It should also be noted that he did not drop a set in the tournament. All in all an excellent 3 days of tennis!
We caught up with Chris following the final with some questions.
1.What did you like most about your performance in the final?
I really liked how well I served. Thought I was hitting my backhand well too. I was able to read Shakeel’s patterns of play. When he was attacking me I knew what type of shot to give him back.
2. It must have taken some real mental effort to get back from being 3-0 down in the first set of the final?
Even though I was down I knew I wasn’t far off. I held my serve in the next game and that really settled me down. I didn’t get too nervous and was steady on the big points. I always knew I could do it.
3. What are your goals for this season and beyond?
CM To be a better player has to be the main one. I know there are things I can do better. This win will improve my ranking position to number 2 in the 18&U list. The ITF rankings are important to me and I want to see myself getting inside the Top 300 by the end of this year. I am off to The Netherlands next week and the work starts there to improve my ranking. I want to play professionally and the ultimate would to be a Top 10 ATP player.
4. What have you learnt about yourself that you can take to the next tournament and through the rest of the season?
Paying attention to how the opponent is playing and what they are doing is important. It is not only about what I am doing.
East Glos Club 