Bishop's Stortford Lawn Tennis Club preparing for county cup final and bubble launch

It promises to be a huge weekend for Bishop's Stortford Lawn Tennis Club with a county cup final and their official 'bubble' launch.

Former Davis Cup player Danny Sapsford and his charitable company Bright Ideas for Tennis will be at the Cricketfield Lane club on Saturday (October 12) to open the transparent dome, which is part of an exciting £250,000 upgrade project that has also seen three clay courts resurfaced.

And they will also be aiming to triumph in the inaugural Hertfordshire 2 Pair Knockout competition final at Hoddesdon after beating Welwyn at home in the semis.

It was set to be a tough test as Welwyn had recently been crowned champions of the county's top men's division, but Stortford had possibly their strongest team out of Richard Blakey, Pete Harris, Sam Price and Dave Reed.

The No 1 pairing of Price and Reed saw off their No 2 pair 6-0, 6-1 before Blakey and Harris took their match into a final-set tie break which they lost 10-6 after a slow start.

In the battle of the No 1 seeds, Price and Reed were victorious in a first-set tie break (7-5) before cruising through the second set 6-2.

On the other court, Blakey and Harris claimed the second set 6-3 after losing the first by the same margin, meaning the resultant 10-point tie break would decide who went through to the final.

Stortford found themselves 9-7 down, but two match points were saved and they went on to triumph 11-9.

BSLTC also held their club finals day recently and Harris overcame Blakey 6-3, 6-4 in a tight men's singles thanks to a break in each set.

The father-and-son team of Trevor and Ben Halligan dug deep to see off Blakey and Luke Hayes in the men's doubles.

Locked together at one set apiece, both pairings produced some excellent tennis in the 10-point tie break as the Halligans saved a match point before taking the honours.

Harris then took his second title of the day as he partnered Nicky Darlington to a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Ben Halligan and Alexandra Gamzakova in the mixed doubles.

There were also club events for players who do not compete in the top two teams and the men's doubles final was extremely competitive.

Paul Gunn and Vahid Moshtagh-Kahnamoui ultimately triumphed 10-7 in the deciding tie-break against Colin Burnet and Jake Attfield.

Burnet then bounced back from that disappointment to see off Peter Aylott 6-1, 6-3 in the club men's singles final.

The bubble launch this Saturday is part of the club's Charity Open Day as they raise money towards providing free coaching sessions for Grove Cottage and disability tennis.

It will feature coaching sessions between 10am and midday and also from 1pm to 6pm, while the barbecue will be running between midday and 6pm.

Visit www.bsltc.co.uk for the full schedule.