Mixed fortunes for Warwickshire men’s and women’s tennis sides on day two of Summer Inter-County Cup Championship

RISING star Harry Lazell and former Stratford player Oliver Plaskett excelled at second pair in Warwickshire men’s emphatic victory over Somerset on day two of the Inter-County Cup Tennis Championships.

With the Bears now topping Group 4 in Worthing, they look odds-on for promotion, despite facing strong opposition from Berkshire, Durham and Cleveland.

Lazell and Plaskett won all three rubbers including a tense match tie-break against the top Somerset pair Alistair Felton and former tour pro Richard Gabb.

Warwickshire's top partnership of Mason Recci (Solihull) and Stratford's Cameron Malik, who were unbeaten on day one against Nottinghamshire, won two out of three rubbers and were desperately unlucky to be edged out 11-9 in the deciding match tie-break by their opposite numbers Felton and Gabb.

The third pairing of Alex Griffiths and Simon Ferguson also won two out of three ultra-close rubbers, all of which went to match tie-breaks.

Unfortunately, Warwickshire’s depleted women’s side suffered an 8-1 loss to favourites Middlesex who are strongly tipped for promotion from Group 2 at Manchester.

With six of the county’s top players absent through injury or tournament and coaching commitments, Katie Shaw’s youngsters struggled valiantly against higher-ranked opposition.

The third pair of Madison Rumney and rising star Lois Porter lost a two-hour thriller to their opposite numbers, after the tightest of match tie-breaks.

The Warwickshire first pair of Summer Yardley and Tamara Malazonia clinched the county’s only rubber, beating the Middlesex seconds, on a match tie-break 10-7.

They will now need a convincing win over stragglers Avon in today’s, Wednesday, match to stay in the hunt for promotion.

from Warwick, 18,