Warwick smash woeful Coventry

For first-team captain Chris Prince and president Max Teeling, this year’s Varsity was particularly poignant.

The duo played their final tennis matches at Warwick University in the series, and it is clear that Varsity success meant everything to them as they represent the club for one final time.

“It’s my last year and as for all the other members of the team, this is the one we really want to win,” said Chris.

“The league is important throughout the year, but Varsity has got something a little bit different – it’s a more direct rivalry rather than just points in the bag, it’s about winning and losing points on the leaderboard, so we really get up for this one.”

While Chris portrayed a team desperate to beat Coventry, there was no disguising Max’s personal desperation to overcome the old enemy.

“It would really mean everything to go out on a massive high by taking them down one final time,” Max mused.

“The seconds (whom Max represents) haven’t lost Varsity since I started at Warwick, so it’d be great to hold onto that record as long as I’ve been here. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t love to stuff Coventry?”

Unfortunately, Max’s confidence was misplaced as he lost 6-2 6-3 to rival Jack Thompson, whom he beat in a BUCS match on Wednesday.

There is a wealth of talent within the Warwick ranks which was always likely to be converted into Varsity points.

The star player for the women is captain Gemma Praditgnam, who breezed through her match 6-1 6-1.

And as for the men’s draw, it is a 25-year-old former Oxford University student who Prince identified as the key player.

Marc Baghdadi, who is three years into his PhD at Warwick, captained the Oxford team during his degree and made the top 10 of the juniors’ rankings during his teenage years.

He subsequently beat Alan Li 6-4 6-1 in a commanding display.

With the depth and variety of talent on board, first-team captain Chris admits that it is difficult to choose the players who will represent Warwick Tennis each week.

“Myself and vice-captain Joe (Harris) struggle every week to work out exactly who’s going to play, because people’s form varies and the amount people have gone to training varies, as well as fitness and things like that,” said Chris.

“We do struggle every week, but we want to give everybody an opportunity to play; so it’s tough to pick the teams, we just try to pick the best 12 players on the day really.”

Chris, a third-year economics student, is refreshingly laid back for a man with such responsibility.

He has been part of the first team throughout his time at university, progressing to the national BUCS singles finals this year along with Marc.”

And he confesses that it has been challenging balancing the roles of captaincy and performance this year.

“I didn’t expect the difference to be so great, as when I’ve finished my own match I’m still just as nervous and tense,” admits Chris.

“It suddenly feels a lot more important for the whole team result as well as the individualistic aspect, so it does increase the intensity significantly for the whole day.”

Meanwhile, Max, who competed in the seconds, has filled multiple roles during his time with Warwick Tennis.

“Tennis has been a huge part of what I’ve done at university,” enthuses Max.

“I’ve been involved in the exec for the past couple of years and the teams for three years, so I’m looking forward to putting on a really good performance in my final match at Warwick.

“I’ll be playing in the second team, which is where I’ve played throughout my time here, and am really looking forward to it.”

While Warwick are understandably enthusiastic about their own capabilities, there is the small matter of a Coventry side desperate to deny their rivals glory.

But Chris insists that while they knew a little bit about their opponents, they would attempt to simply accentuate their own strengths.

“It’s a combination of factors,” explains Chris.

“You’ve got to try and play your opponent due to their weaknesses, but you want to concentrate on your focus, intensity and concentrating on winning your match.

“It’s about getting in their head and grinding through the match, so it’s partially about matching up our players to the strengths and weaknesses, but also about everybody playing as well as they can. We can only ask for one hundred per cent effort and concentration of them, and that’ll win a lot of matches.”

While Chris was circumspect about Warwick’s chances of overcoming their rivals, Max needed only to reflect on his personal experience to imbue himself with a sense of confidence.

“Last year was a roaring success – we pounded the seconds 12-0, but they managed to beat our first team,” smiled Max.

“We’ve had some really tough matches against Coventry this year in the regular BUCS season, though.

“I’ve played them three times so far this season; I haven’t lost a match yet so I’m hoping to keep that up, but it’ll be a really close fixture.”

In a game which will be potentially decided by a series of small factors, it could prove crucial that Coventry are going to be at home.

But Chris believes that the relative proximity of the venue to Warwick, and the mental strength of his players, means that home advantage had no impact on either side.

“We’re only down the road, where we’ve played quite a lot of times ourselves, so there is probably only a very small home advantage for them,” insists Chris.

“It’ll be played on the carpet, which is slightly faster than the courts we play on, but it actually suits quite a lot of the guys’ playing styles, so in reality there’s going to be very little advantage gained by the courts.”

Whoever has the technical advantage of playing at home, both Chris and Max enthused about the prospect of playing in front of raucous spectators.

“Varsity’s always a big occasion,” said Chris. “Last year was brilliant, we had loads of supporters down and we put in a really good performance.

“I think this year it will be the same again – hopefully we’ll have even more supporters down.

“It should be a really good atmosphere, and Coventry always bring a lot of people as well, so it’ll be quite a partisan atmosphere which brings out the best in most of the players.

“It is always an enjoyable event, even if it is a little tense at times!”

And Max, in his role as president and second-team stalwart, simply wished to do himself justice on the biggest stage.

“I’m really excited. Varsity’s always a highlight of the year, and it would mean a lot as it’s my final year,” explains Max.

“Hopefully I can give a good showing for the final time.”

And with that, the two players departed to prepare for Varsity.