Our congratulations go to Cambridge University Lawn Tennis Club (CULTC) Blues as they picked up silverware on a pre-season European trip to Monte Carlo!

The match report below was written by Jack Wilson-Smith, Men's Blues Captain. 

It was a great weekend for the Light Blues as they managed to win their first trophy at the Monte Carlo Country Club hosted by HEC Paris, playing against four other business schools from across Europe along with Oxford University Lawn Tennis Club.

With a team of 6 players, 3 from the Men’s Blues and 3 from the Women’s Blues, under the guidance of Blues player Patrick Smart as coach, Cambridge made a strong start with comfortable singles wins from Michal Kaminski and Anna Chesca against HEC Paris and St. Gallen. Following this, mixed doubles pair Esah Hayat and Leah Hurst had a tough loss against a strong HEC pair. Finishing day one, Michal stormed through his singles again to take us through to the semis after which we headed off to the Yacht club for dinner followed by the casino.  

Into day two, Anna played a brutal 3 setter and came out victorious to put us top of the group. Men’s Captain Jack Wilson-Smith and Juju Ganendra played the last match of mixed doubles to beat St. Gallens pair, losing only 1 game. Playing Oxford in the semi finals, Kaminski won his singles in straight sets, with Hayat and Hurst winning 12-10 in the match tiebreak. Finally, Chesca finished off the Oxford Women’s player in another tough 3 setter, which was followed by a celebratory swim.

Playing Bocconi in the final, Kaminski took a comfortable win on centre court, with Hurst defeated by a tough opponent in the women’s singles, making it 1-1 and all down to the last mixed doubles match played by Chesca and Hayat. Winning the first set 6-0, the Cambridge pair stayed focussed to win a close second set (7-5) with an outstanding performance from both to win the tournament, while Kaminski won the player of the tournament. A proud moment for the Cambridge side.

Overall, the Light Blues had an absolutely unforgettable weekend and cannot wait to return next year to defend the trophy.