Cork Tennis Blog

Welcome to the Cork Tennis Blog.

This blog will keep you up to date on the tennis scene in Cork, both socially and competitively. Whether you are new to the game or an experienced player I hope you find the information and posts here, useful and interesting.

You can contact me by email at rob@racketrestringing.ie

Rob's Racketrestringing

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

New Facebook Page for Munster Tennis



Munster Tennis has a new Facebook page.

Here you will find the latest news on Senior,Junior, Veteran and wheelchair tennis in Munster.


All Munster clubs are asked for their input and are asked to send in news of any club news and events that they would like to have covered on the page.

Stay up to date with all the latest happenings in Munster Tennis by 'liking' the page.

Check out the page here.

Ladies Morning in Maher Sports



Starting this Friday morning in Maher Sports, there will be a Ladies Morning in their tennis section.

Along with their highly qualified staff there will also be a coach on hand to give you a hand choosing the correct racket and between 9:30 and 1pm there will be 20% off all non-reduced tennis product.

Don't miss out on this opportunity to get the best advice and great reductions in Ireland's largest tennis shop.

Spread the word ladies!!

South of Ireland Omni Court Championships 2014



The South of Ireland Omni Court Championships 2014 will take place in Rushbrooke L.T. & C.C. over the Easter weekend, from the 17th to the 21st of April.

This event always attracts a great entry from all over the country.

Entry for this event closes on the 13th of April and you can enter online by clicking here.

Lakewood Open starting soon




Lakewood Senior open runs from Friday the 4th of April to Saturday the 12th with events for all grades from 1 to 6/7.

Closing date for entries is the 30th of March.

You can enter online by clicking here.

Best of luck to all who enter.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

2014 Munster Veteran's Tournament - Online entry now available



The 2014 Munster Veteran's Open will take place in Sunday's Well Boating and Tennis Club from the 3rd to the 6th of April.

As always this event is expected to attract a large entry so good tennis is guaranteed all weekend.

Online entry closes on the 30th of March.

Don't miss out, click here to enter now.

Hope to see you there.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

UCC - Intervarsities 2014

UCC Tennis Club hit up a storm last weekend at the annual Irish Tennis Intervarsity competition. Led by club captains Duncan Cronin and Gillian O’Riordan the squad of nearly thirty players set off for Westwood Tennis Club in Leopardstown, Dublin on Wednesday morning. UCC entered five teams overall, a credit to Coach Paul Fitzgerald, who encouraged and motivated each player since pre-season training began in late September. Three men’s teams and two women’s teams were set to go and ready to challenge colleges from all over Ireland. The competition started bright and early on Thursday morning with UCC’s second ladies team first to play. The girls came up against their counterparts from UCD. They had two great singles wins from Shannon Ramzan and Captain Gillian O’Riordan. Gillian also won her doubles with partner and twin sister Louise O’Riordan who gives a new meaning to the term ‘double trouble’! Unfortunately the team overall lost out to UCD and so our girls went into the Plate competition where the girls were a smash hit and won it for the second year in a row. Congratulations ladies!

Up next to hit the courts in the Bowl Competition was UCC’s men’s third team led by their team Captain Robert Evans. Rob had his team pumped up and ready to go as they faced this year’s top seeds and last year’s hosts Queens University Belfast. Unfortunately the boys lost out to Queens; however UCC saw a fantastic win from Brian Kelleher in his singles match. The boys went into the back draw and made it all the way to the final to snatch another win for UCC. We saw some top class tennis from our boys and are very proud of their achievement.



The men’s first team were entered in to the main draw where they faced UCD (2) in the first round on Thursday afternoon. Our boys got the job done with wins all around in the singles and so, cruised into the next round where a tough match against DCU was to be played out. Unfortunately the boys lost out to DCU who went on to win the competition outright. This was not for lack of trying though, with an excellent win in singles from Marco Tardieux, a ‘years grace’ player who returned from France to play with UCC one last time. Team captain Duncan Cronin was pleased with his team’s performance and delighted Marco, a huge asset to the team, was able to return to the team.


UCC’s men’s second team were victorious in their first round of the Bowl against UCD (3) led by Captain Conor Dooley. Conor Cashman, a new talented player did the deed in his singles to see the team progress in the competition. The boys stepped on to court on finals day ready to give it their all. Unfortunately they came up against a strong CIT team in the final and were runners up in the Bowl. The team saw a euphoric win for first year Stephen Quirke in his singles and a great effort was put in by the whole team. Well done boys!

The ladies first team coasted to victory in their first round match against Queens University Belfast. A great win in singles from team Captain Alice Twomey spurred her team on to gain a place in the semi-finals against reigning champions TCD. A tough semi-final faced the girls who unfortunately lost out to Trinity, who went on to win the overall competition. It was a fantastic four days for all involved in the event. There was some top class tennis from all sides and UCC are extremely proud of the effort put in by all of our players. It is clear that all the players’ hard work and dedication paid off with two teams getting to semi-finals and three teams getting to a final.

Congratulations to all involved, both players and coaches. UCC Tennis is already looking ahead to the year to come and hope to have many more successes in the future.

Many thanks to Gillian O Riordan and Tara Higgins for putting this article together.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Tennis Ireland launches Training Buddies Programme






Training Buddies Programme
National Tennis Academy 2014

Tennis Ireland would like to issue a call out to tennis players nationwide to register for our “Training Buddies Programme”.
In the interest of the progression of our sport, we wish to set up a registry of high level  (High Performance Juniors or top level senior league players) players in Ireland to train and/or play matches with our Tennis Academy players, by invitation and hosted in Dublin City University.
Junior and Senior League players are welcome to apply to be listed on the Training Buddies register.

The Advantages:
  • To increase match practice for our Academy based tennis players by offering tennis players on the Resister the opportunity to attend the National Academy for scheduled matches and/or training sessions.
  • Players nationwide may have the opportunity to practice competition and/or train by invitation, to the National Tennis Academy at the highest level with some of the Nation’s best.
  • Tennis Ireland Academy coaches will be present and available to offer advice if requested.
  • Players will be training within the BNP Paribas National Academy's excellent facilities on the best court surfaces.
  • This service is provided free of charge.

To be successful for registration, players will need the following:

1. Provide an outline of proven track record in tennis tournaments with results at domestic and, where applicable, international level;
2. Competing within the agegroup of u14s to senior level (High Performance Juniors or top level senior league players);
3. Membership of the Tennis Ireland National Player Database with a Tennis Ireland PIN number;
4. Submit application before the deadline of 14th March 2014.


Application can be processed by clicking on the link below and submitting the completed form to Tennis Ireland before the deadline.  The National Academy coaching team will shortlist candidates and those that are successful for the programme will receive confirmation before the end of March.

What a great photo!


Photo courtesy of Wilson tennis.

Monday, March 3, 2014

Babolat Play: the connected tennis racket


The Babolat Play Pure Drive racket looks like a regular racket on the outside. However, sensors integrated into the handle allow players to have access to a lot of information: power, impact locator, type and number of strokes (forehand, backhand, serve, overhead smash),.



Available soon in our retail partners, Maher Sports.


Change of date for Rushbrooke Open Vets





Please note the change of date for the Rushbrooke Open Vets.  It has moved from it's traditional date in October to a new date in May.  It will run from the 23rd - 25th of May.

It had previously being displayed on the Tennis Ireland site as March but this was an error and has now being corrected.

Moving the date should hopefully enhance the event.  They will be hoping the dreary Winter weather will be replaced with sunshine and warmth and inspire some top quality tennis.


While the event always counted for selection for the Interpro team, it was a bit lost.  Playing an event at the end of one year to count for the following years team never gave it the stature it deserved.
With the date right in the middle of the vets season it should guarantee an increased entry.

Mark it in your calendar now and don't miss out!

Davis Cup venue announced for Ireland v Egypt



Tennis Ireland has announced that the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas tie between the BNP Paribas Irish Davis Cup Team and Egypt will take place at Castleknock Lawn Tennis Club in Dublin.
The Europe/Africa Zone Group II second round tie will take place from Friday 4th -Sunday 6th April 2014.
Tickets for the tie are on sale now on http://www.tennisireland.ie/davis_cup

For group or accessible bookings please phone 01-8844010






Castleknock Lawn Tennis Club is one of Ireland's top clubs and a worthy venue for a Davis Cup tie.  It is also the home club of our current Irish number 1, James McGee, so you can expect a big crowd, a great atmosphere and you can be sure that the tickets will sell out fast.

LOCATION: The club is situated beside the junction of the M50 motorway and the N3, on the city side. Coming from the city via the N3, turn left at first roundabout after Halfway House (1km). Turn right immediately and straight on. Coming from the west, go straight through the M50-N3 interchange. Go right at next roundabout, right immediately and straight on. Coming from M50, take city exit, right at next roundabout, right again immediately and straight on. VIEW MAP
OUTDOOR TENNIS FACILITIES: Ten floodlit courts with synthetic surface. Enclosed practice wall.
INDOOR TENNIS FACILITIES: Three indoor courts with viewing balcony etc.
If you've never attended a Davis Cup match you're missing out.  Team tennis is so different to individual matches, the players try harder, the crowd get more involved and you generally are guaranteed some really great tennis.
Definitely worth a trip!

Daily Trivia Quiz

What year did the first Wimbledon Championships take place?


Check out Cork Tennis Facebook page for the Daily Trivia Quiz.

Competition Winner

Competition winner Connie Creed receiving her Wilson Juice racket from Val O Grady of Maher Sports, after winning the Juice racket competition.

Many thanks to Maher Sports for sponsoring this prize and be sure to check out Ireland's largest range of tennis rackets on their website. Click here to go directly to the tennis section of their site.

I hope Connie is going to share the racket with her husband Robert seen as she hacked his facebook page to enter!

Keep checking out this blog and the Maher Sports facebook page for plenty of more opportunities to win.
'Like' their page and don't miss out on the opportunity to win some great prizes over the course of the summer.