ELLERY Ford was the dominant player at the 2023 Dorchester Tennis and Squash Club Tennis Championships, winning all three tournaments he entered.

Ford won the men’s singles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles with his exploits earning him the Rod Skidmore Cup for most titles won.

The cup is named in honour of Rod Skidmore, a Naval pilot who lost his life in a helicopter crash in 2002.

Ford fittingly is now a two-time singles winner, four-time doubles winner and his mixed doubles crown completes the full set.

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In the men’s singles, defending champion Ford was up against first-time finalist Ben Sanders.

Sanders seemed to be completely in control from the start and Ford initially had no answer to his attacking style.

Sanders won the first set quickly 6-2, before Ford started to mix up his pace and make sure he got every ball back in play and frustrated Sanders who started to miss some of his aggressive shots.

Ford’s defensive style allowed him to win the second set 6-2, causing a closely-fought match tie-break.

Sanders had the first match point when 9-8 ahead, but could not quite close it out and Ford then earned a match point himself at 10-9.

Ellery’s consistency won the day and he took the match at his first opportunity to successfully defend his title, winning 2-6, 6-2, 11-9.

In the women’s singles, neither defending champion Milly Sidaway nor 21-time Champion Sarah Skidmore had entered the competition as they were away.

The final was played between Jess Kennedy, last year’s plate winner and 14-year-old Anoek van Egdom.

Van Egdom was quite nervous to start with, but settled into the match well.

Overall, however, Kennedy proved too strong and consistent and claimed her first singles title in straight sets 6-1, 6-0.

Triple men’s doubles champion Ford and his new partner Matt Grubb were up against first-time finalists, and brothers, 17-year-old Ben and 14-year-old Joe Sanders.

This was an exciting contest, with two tight sets, but Ford and Grubb came out on top in both to win 6-4, 7-5. This was Grubb’s first senior title at the club.

The women's doubles final was between last year’s runner-up Jess Kennedy, playing with a new partner Karine Sehn, up against Caroline Hiscock and Sue Warren.

This was a great tussle, with some entertaining rallies, and although Kennedy and Sehn won the title 6-2, 6-1, the match was much closer than the score appeared.

We were also guaranteed new champions in the Mixed Doubles as the defending champions were both absent. The final had the beaten finalist from 2022 and 2021, Ford, with a new partner Lorraine Slowther facing Joy Hennessy and Mike Williams.

This was a great match with lots of touch and variations of pace. Williams always seems to have so much time on the ball, and places it cleverly, and Hennessy’s stop volleys literally do not seem to bounce, but Ford and Slowther were too strong overall and managed to win in straight sets 6-2, 6-2.

Club chairman Al Clark, who presented the trophies, said: “Our main tournament sponsor was once again Pengillys and we are very grateful for their generous support.

“We’ve seen some fantastic matches over the course of the tournament and it’s great to see some new names on the trophies.

“Congratulations to all of our champions, but particularly Ellery who showed amazing skill and stamina to play three matches in a row and to win them all, even managing to save a match point in the singles final.”

Results: Men's singles - Ellery Ford beat Ben Sanders 2-6, 6-2, 11-9; Women's singles - Jess Kennedy beat Anoek van Egdom 6-1, 6-0; Men's doubles - Ellery Ford & Matt Grubb beat Ben & Joe Sanders 6-4, 7-5; Women's doubles - Jess Kennedy & Karine Sehn beat Caroline Hiscock & Sue Warren 6-2, 6-1; Mixed doubles - Lorraine Slowther & Ellery Ford beat Joy Hennessy & Mike Williams 6-2, 6-2; Men's singles plate - Will Stein (walkover); Men's doubles plate - Dugald Lockhart & Mike Williams beat Jake Pike & James Warne 6-2, 6-4; Women's doubles plate - Becky Guyett & Lorraine Slowther w/o Ros Clark & Ann Williams; Mixed doubles plate - Caroline Hiscock & James Odell beat Becky Guyett & Duncan Heath 6-2, 6-2.