Chapter 5

As Geraldine and I made our way to sign in, she wanted to know how I was advertising the tennis gear with a life-size picture.

“It was something that happened during summer. I was working with my aunt at her hotel in Brighton, which is the overnight home for executives for the shops in the big centre across the road. They wanted someone to model for them and I got some money, this outfit and two racquets out of it. It was a bit of fun at the time.”

“You do realise that your bit of fun has given you a fast entry into tennis sponsorship, don’t you?”

My reply was cut short as we reached the organisers. They wanted us to stand with our opponents for a picture to be taken by a tennis magazine, before we got all hot and sweaty. Our opponents had around twenty wins on the tour between them and were supremely confident.

Geraldine whispered for me to giggle a lot, which we did. The other two were trying to look serious and obvious winners, while we were giggling and smiling a lot for the camera. When we went out and beat them in a tough game, the picture was printed in one of the magazines after Easter, under the banner of the ‘Smiling Assassins’.

We would be back on Saturday in the final, so guaranteed a trophy and ranking points, win or lose. Our ‘team’ were all smiles when we caught up with them. A deal had been done, with the two men teaming up on Miss Foster. One with the tennis knowledge and one with courtroom experience. June told me that Miss Foster never stood a chance. She wanted us on board, come hell or high water, and she got us at the price our champions negotiated. We were sponsored!

Not only were we sponsored by the sports store chain, but we also found out that after a number of phone calls, the clothes brand that I was already wearing, the racquet maker and the very well-known shoe supplier had bought into the deal.

One of the singles semis was in progress, so we were taken behind the display and kitted out with a fresh outfit and new racquets for our finals tomorrow. I was up for my semi in the afternoon, after the other doubles semi, so got another kit to put on after a shower. Today, the men were playing their matches on the main court, as usual, and the finals would all be played on that one on Saturday. The players in the age brackets were all playing their finals today, on outer courts.

We had an early lunch with our ‘team’, who were all smiling, especially Geraldines’ mother, who had returned with our freshly washed outfits only to find that we didn’t need them. They would be consigned to training matches, as we would be wearing our sponsors outfits in any future tournaments.

We all sat in the stand and watched to see how our likely opponents in the final played, making notes on their ‘tells’ when setting up set plays. They finished their match in two sets, and we had, by now, noted the winners style. Tony was serious.

“They’re good, they’re experienced, but look at their posture at the moment. Two sets and they’re both tired. Take them to a tiebreaker in the first, and you’ll knock them over in the next two.”

That evening, at dinner, I asked Geraldines’ father how much I owed him, and he laughed.

“Alice. The deal we struck with the sponsors has enough of a cash content to pay for this whole weekend. Transport, hotel, meals, everything. June has volunteered to be your manager for the rest of this season, seeing that you won’t be playing a lot of matches, so she will receive the money in an account that she will set up in both your names. I’ll give her my account later. Eastbourne will be another day, but there, so I’m told, there is no fee to play. In fact, there is a small payment to every player for being there, on top of any prizemoney. You will both get around three thousand US dollars each.”

Tony grinned.

“The good news, girls, is that one of the organisers is here, and he had a short talk to me while you were watching the other semi. He has assured me that he’ll push for the two of you to be on the qualified list as Promising British Players, which will put you into the first round. If you get to the final, the runners up get nearly thirty thousand dollars to share. Singles is the same amount.”

When I fronted up for my singles semi, there were several photographers waiting to take our pictures. June was with me to stave off the questions, telling the reporters that we would be available for the press after the final, should they still want to talk. My opponent had a name with more consonants than vowels, had been into the top ten but was now just inside the top fifty in the rankings. We posed for the pictures, but she didn’t offer a hand as we parted to go to our own ends.

It took me two and a half hours and a tiebreaker in the last to wear her down. As I walked off the court, the organisers took me to the clubrooms to have a urine and blood sample taken, with a female nurse checking my body. They were apologetic and said that It was usually only done after the final, but that my opponent had insisted that ‘no teenage girl can serve at a hundred and ten miles an hour’, which I had achieved, according to the display, more than once.

That evening, we were visited at the hotel by the LTA physio, who had us stretched out on a mattress in one of the empty rooms, one at a time, to give us both massage and manipulations. We were given big packets of salts and told to go and have hot baths with them. The lady told us quietly, that the LTA was very keen to see a couple of local girls do well.

I know that after the bath, I slept like a baby. Breakfast for two of us was energy-rich and we watched the others tuck into a full English with envy. Today, we were playing our doubles final first, so would start at nine. The mixed doubles followed, then the men. There was an hour for lunch, with the ladies singles before the men. The presentations would take place after each match.

When we arrived, Geraldine was given an envelope for being a losing quarter finalist. It was a voucher for three hundred pounds at one of the womens dress shop chains and could be spent at the shop in Godalming. We were introduced to the crowd with full pomp and ceremony and had five minutes to warm up with our serves.

We started playing at ten past. They won the first service game and, at a quarter to ten, they took the set on a tiebreak. Tony had been right. We won the second six-four and the third six two. We hugged and went to shake hands with our opponents, who were gracious enough to tell us that we had done well.

The presentation was slick. The losers were given a pair of small trophies, and everyone clapped. We were presented with larger trophies and there was a big one that we held up to the cheering crowd. That one would have our names on and stay with the club. We left the court and went directly to the clubhouse, where we were both tested. After that, we showered and changed into dresses that we had bought to use with the band. They seemed to fit this occasion.

We had lunch with our team and Miss Foster, who told us that our outfits were selling well. Geraldine tucked in, but I was restricted to a proper diet to give me stamina for the match this afternoon. My opponent was formidable, in the top twenty rankings and on form. I wasn’t certain that I could beat her, but I intended to give her a run for her money.

That afternoon, I lost in a big game. I did enough to gain respect, taking one set off of her, but she won a tight first set, wearing me down with relentless power in the third. As I went to shake hands, she surprised me by giving me a big hug and whispering in my ear.

“See you in the final at Eastbourne.”

We stood to accept our trophies. I had a close replay of my dream, in that I stood with a decent sized trophy at my feet as she took the big one. She was asked to speak and was good enough to say that I had made her work as hard as a Grand Slam, and that I had a great future. She had to go to testing, but mine was considered done in the morning. After we had both changed, we had a press conference and then hugged again as we parted. I’m sure that she would be there, at the other end of a court I’m on, into the future. I also knew that I needed to work on my fitness before Eastbourne.

We had nothing to hang around for, so we thanked the organisers and left, Tony carrying my singles trophy and us girls with our doubles ones. We packed up the cars and gave Tony and June hugs and thanks before going back to Godalming for dinner and a good night of rest. That’s if we could get to sleep. On the drive back, I was told that Geraldines’ parents were Sandra and Walter, and that I was to use their names.

When we went back to school, a week later, we took our trophies with us to show the others. Not that we needed to tell them where we’d been. The newspapers had photos of us in the sporting section, with stories about Alice McConnell and Geraldine Fitzwilliam. One even had a picture of us in our Benenden outfits in an earlier doubles match, with the headline, ‘Are these the faces of Britains’ future?” The zinger was that, below it, their cartoonist had drawn us in Victorian gowns in Benenden colours, racquets held, with Tony and June behind us in Japanese gear. The caption for that was, ‘Watch out! The Two Little Girls From School are Here!’

When we went up to our room, it had been decorated with the pictures and the cartoon from the papers with a note on one bed that told us to see the head as soon as we had arrived. We unloaded our bags and took the doubles trophies with us when we went to the office. There, we were hugged and congratulated , given tea and biscuits and told that we had brought a lot of publicity to the school. We were even given a framed letter on St. James Palace letterhead, thanking us for our efforts and wishing us luck for the future, signed by the Princess Royal.

Back in our room, I took a picture of it on my phone and sent it to Mum. She had rung me during the week, when she had gone to the local store and seen my picture on the front of a magazine, frozen in mid-serve, with the story of a girl who had been playing the game for a year beating some highly ranked professional players. She had haunted the store, buying everything about us that she could.

I also sent one to Aunt Gloria. My phone now had more numbers stored than any time in my life, from family to the team and direct lines with the sponsors. Geraldines’ was much the same.

We were now getting into the third, and last term of the first year. Summer term was when we had to work hard and get ahead of our classmates, seeing that we would be taking the exams before them. We had a holiday in late May, which we spent at Godalming, going to the club every day we could and playing anyone who wanted to take us on, even some of the guys. Tony got a few friends in to test us, which improved our game. We had kept up the regime at school, two evenings Alice Band, three evenings gym, with trackwork when the weather was good. We were both fit, had muscles on muscles, but still looked like genteel ladies. I was now filling my bras with growing parts of me, and we would go into the village to get some time in the local salon.

Geraldine thought that I should learn to drive, so we went into the examiner’s office in Godalming while we were there and I took my learners permit exam. That allowed us to put plates on the BMW and I got some time behind the wheel. On weekends, on a court at the school, we would play each other in fifteen set games to improve our stamina. It made me realise how lucky we had been in Tunbridge Wells, with the lack of playing before the Easter.

I had told my parents that if I did all right at Eastbourne, I would very likely be playing for most of the summer to build up points and, hopefully, my bank balance. We now had some in our joint account, from the sponsorship, which would fund the expenses, as long as we didn’t go overseas. Just in case, I applied for a passport.

June was a very busy month. Geraldine turned eighteen and we put on a show in the entertainment building, the school organising a social and getting in a DJ. Of course, we were asked to set the band up and play for a while. That was a lot of fun and a good escape valve for the pressures that had been building. The two of us were only going to about a third of our usual classes, now being given the class notes in advance and studying in the library or our room. We were excused the exeat in mid- June to get extra studies in and took all of our exams in the week afterwards.

Straight after that, we loaded the BMW with our cases of normal clothes and our playing gear and drove to Eastbourne, with me sharing the driving on the more open roads. There, we checked into our hotel to meet Tony and June. This time, we knew what was ahead of us and were as ready as we could be. Tony already had signed us in and had our first-round match details. Geraldine would play first at ten on Monday. My first match was mid-afternoon. Our first-round doubles was at seven, taking advantage of the summertime evenings.

That evening we went for a run that June had mapped out, to loosen us up and make sure that we were up to scratch. We were both on a special diet for the week, or as long as we kept winning.

We could walk from the Grand Hotel, where most of the players were staying, to Devonshire Park where the event was being organised. This was a whole different world, with ten outer courts and two main courts with tiered seating. It was almost like playing Wimbledon. Both Tony and June had played here before and met a lot of friends as we wandered around. What we didn’t expect was the number of fans who wanted our signatures on clothing and hats.

The store had a big stall where we were welcomed. There were now two life-size photos, one each, in poses that we had done with the new outfits at Tunbridge. Geraldine had to go off and play her first match, while I had to hang on having selfies taken with fans. When I did get away, she was into her second set with the first won. She breezed past her opponent, and they shook hands. I gave her a hug when she came off court and she went off to shower and change.

Because we had pre-qualified, we had a much easier time, just one match each and one doubles. She would be in the draw for tomorrow. I had a ‘healthy’ lunch and started to psyche myself up for my own first match. My opponent was in the top one hundred and had been there for a few years. As soon as I knew who she was, I asked June for any information she may have.

When I walked out onto the court and put my big bag on the bench, I was already working up some aggression which was what June had told me was the only thing that my opponent couldn’t handle, which was why she had stayed at around the same ranking. I needed to play like someone several hundred places above my current ranking. I did that with my first serve, which she hardly saw as I could now get a hundred and twenty miles an hour, regular as clockwork.

I took the first set six-two, and the second six-love. She stalked off court, grabbing her stuff while I was waving to the small crowd that had watched. It was a good result, as it gave me extra time to recover. I showered and changed into a fresh kit to be ready for our doubles. We had played these girls at Tunbridge and were sure that our extra training would make it easier. It was, in two sets on one of the main courts, seeing that we were Tunbridge Champions, with an appreciative crowd.

On Tuesday, I was on court later in the morning, and Geraldine was on another court at the same time. We both had players who had been on the circuit for a few years, and they were now wary of both of us. Both matches went to three sets, with us both winning the last, so progressing to the quarter final. Tony told us that if we got no further, we would be taking away nearly six thousand dollars.

That evening, our doubles match was on the main court again, which was starting to feel right with the crowds and the encouragement. We were up against a couple of French girls, who would talk rapid French during the play. Little did they know that we both understood them, so it didn’t take long to overcome them in three sets.

The hotel had a spa, and the LTA physio met us there that evening to give us a working over. Tomorrow, we would be playing for keeps and a decent payday. The next morning, the crowds were big and the atmosphere electric. I was starting to feed off the vibe and I think that Geraldine was feeling the same. Today, things were turned upside-down. The women and men played the doubles in the morning with the mixed doubles. Seeing that there were four matches in each group, we used all twelve courts, with a draw to see who used which one. This time, we were put on an outer court, with all the matches starting between ten and half-past. Everyone had been playing once or twice a day, by now, and it was starting to show with the ones that hadn’t followed the training regime slavishly. Our opponents had one who looked as if she was fond of cakes, so we targeted her by making her run around. Her partner tried hard to make up for that, but we managed to win in three sets, without any tiebreaks.

In the afternoon, there were just the eight matches, so they were all on the two main courts, starting at twelve and going into the evening, if required. They alternated with men on one and women on the other, changing with subsequent matches. We were scheduled later, to give us time after our doubles.

We weren’t playing each other this time, and my match was before Geraldines. Mine went the full three sets, with every set to tiebreaks. I was tired but my opponent was tireder, losing her footing trying to reach the ball after a three-minute volley exchange, going down heavily and so losing the match. I went to the other side of the net and helped her to her feet as her trainer came over to check on her. She thanked me for being a good player and a good person as the crowd were still applauding. I felt like everything had been sucked out of me.

I slowly walked back to my bag and took a swig of my bottled water, wiped the racquet handle with the towel, then picked up my bag to leave, while the applause started to die away. I turned and waved to the audience, who gave me a cheer. It had been a tough match, and I was feeling the strain, but I maintained my smile until I was out of sight.

I took my time in the shower and redressed in a normal outfit. With the length of my match, Geraldine would have started hers, so I went to see where the team was sitting at the other court. I saw them walking towards the catering and caught up with them.

“How did Geraldine do, that must have been a quick match.”

Tony grinned.

“Six-four, six-four. Like taking candy from a baby. You got the tough one. So, tomorrow, you have the doubles and the singles semis. This is where it really gets hard. If the later matches go as I expect, you’ll be the only non-seeded players in the last four of both the doubles and the singles. You head back to the hotel and get into a salt bath, you look as if you need one.”

“Thank you, doctor. I’ll see you in the dining room later.”

“Healthy dinner and then a run. Wear your track suit.”

I strolled towards the exit, being stopped for selfies and asked to sign shirts. I expect that it had been the column inches after Tunbridge and the notion that we were up and coming. When I got to the hotel, I ran a hot bath with the salts and laid in the water with the hot air helping to clear my head.

When the water was a lot cooler, I got out and dried off. I put on my running outfit, laid on the bed and went to sleep. What woke me was my phone.

“Yes?”

“Alice, where are you?”

“In my room. I followed orders and had that bath, then fell asleep after I’d dressed.”

“Come on down to the dining room, you need to eat. I think that you may need some hydrolytic drinks after that match of yours.”

“See you in a few minutes.”

A half an hour later, after some food and several glasses of hydrolytic drinks, I was starting to feel like my old self. After the meal, we walked instead of a run. Along the beach and back, with me now drinking water. When I turned in, I was up three times in the night to use the bathroom.

The next morning, I had a proper breakfast while the others fussed over me. June was worried that I had overdone things. Geraldine was upbeat.

“Alice, if we get no further, we’ve done well. The courts were abuzz with talk about how you helped your opponent back onto her feet. I heard some say that you’ve put good manners back onto a court. If we lose, we lose, but we will have done our best. I couldn’t have got this far without your help to get me fit.”

Tony put his hand on my arm.

“She’s right, Alice. Between you, so far, you’ve earned about forty thousand dollars. That’s a fair chunk for a couple of first timers here. There’s no shame in going out in the semis, it will get you both invited to the qualifying days for Wimbledon.”

“Tony, friends. I hear what you say. I’m still going to do my best. That match, yesterday in the heat, really got to me. I need to have more than just water in my bag on court. I now know what my limits are, so will work that into the plan. Do we know who we’re playing today?”

“You, Alice, will be playing the one who beat you at Tunbridge. Geraldine has one of the middle European girls. Both are seeded. In the doubles, you’re up against a pair of Australian girls who are doing this side of the world for the first time. Their rankings are good from winning a lot of matches at home and in Asian tournaments. They’re strong, but their game is fairly conventional. They only have one party trick that I’ve noticed. They play a long game in a rally and then drop one short to bring one to the net, then lob into the vacant half behind them. If they do drop in a slower ball, the back player needs to get to the centre line ASAP.”

Marianne Gregory © 2026