Gottfried Von Cramm Trophy

The GOTTFRIED VON CRAMM  (GvC) TROPHY - 28th - 31st August 
 
The Gottfried von Cramm (GvC) trophy is one of the newest events to join the IC calendar, established just two years ago as a biennial competition held in Germany and named after the founder of their IC. Targeted at ages 28-44, it aims to get the slightly more recently retired players participating in IC events, featuring competitive tennis as well as the usual IC social festivities. This year's GB team of myself and Pedro Ocana started our trip with a rendezvous at Frankfurt airport before navigating to the Frankfurter Palmengarten Tennis Club, an impressive club of 17 clay courts on the outskirts of the city. There we met Alex Kurucz, President of IC Germany and club manager Juergen Hackauff and his wife Beata who would entertain us fabulously over the next three days. After a warm up hit where we just about started to adjust to the red clay, we headed to the club restaurant for a welcome dinner with the other teams who had arrived throughout the afternoon. There were five teams in this year's competition; GB, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and a Canada/Switzerland hybrid aka "Canderland".

An amended format was in place to accommodate five teams across three days of play. We would play against every team in a round robin format, with each tie consisting of a short sets men's and women's singles followed by a mixed doubles match tiebreak. On day one we started our campaign against Canderland, with myself and Pedro scooping up a 3-0 victory in the morning. We took advantage of having only one match that day by heading into the city for the afternoon, including a wander through a rather lively international food festival that was taking place along the banks of the river Main. We then met the other teams at a restaurant in the city, where we were treated by Alex to some classic German food including schnitzel and Frankfurter Kranz "Crown", a local cake. 

On day two we had two ties to play, taking on first Luxembourg and then Spain. After a strong start racing ahead on both courts, we both dropped our second sets before rebounding to claim the two singles in tiebreaks; clutch victories that would prove good practice for the remaining ties. We also picked up a convincing win in the mixed doubles to take the tie 3-0. A special mention should go to Luxembourg for the most unusual team gift - a cleaning sponge in the shape of their small nation! After a tasty lunch we got ready to take on Spain who were also yet to be defeated. Pedro was especially pumped up for this match, having grown up in Spain he was keen to get the win for GB over his home nation. We came out very fast again, somehow outmanoeuvring our opponents on their natural surface and taking both first sets. Unfortunately, just as we were both in full swing the heavens opened, quickly transforming the courts into lakes and forcing us into a rain delay. Luckily, it appears that superior German engineering standards extend even to tennis courts as somewhat miraculously they were back ready for play within 90 minutes. Not so ready for play were us Brits however, and we again both found ourselves battling it out in match tiebreaks. Pedro narrowly lost out in his, but I managed to come back from a 5-2 deficit to keep us alive for the doubles. Here we really came into our own, clearly inspired by recent British success on the doubles court and with some top class volleys from Pedro, we secured a comfortable 10-2 win. 
 
After a long day of tennis and with glutes aching from the clay, we returned back to the hotel to shower and dress for the final dinner. A wonderful meal of steak, cocktails and strudel was kindly served to us as we chatted and laughed with all the players we had bonded with over the last couple of days. It was a wonderful evening to close out the last night of the event. On the final morning we headed back to the courts one last time to take on Germany in a battle for the title. While Germany has lost out 2-1 to Spain, they were still in with a shot of the trophy if they could beat us. Unfortunately, the Germen's men's player had suffered an injury and was unable to play singles, so it was just the ladies singles to start. After losing the first set to a better opponent, I managed to switch my tactics up with some bigger hitting to win the second set and ultimately the tiebreak to win the tie. A very hard fought win which showcased the quality of the competition across the event. The teams all congregated for the trophy ceremony where we graciously thanked our hosts, before saying goodbye and heading home after a thoroughly enjoyable weekend.

A huge thank you to the IC of Germany for hosting the event, and to the IC of GB for their ongoing support!
 
Emily Arbuthnott
 
Results
IC of GB def. IC of Canada/Switzerland 3-0
IC of GB def. IC of Luxembourg 3-0
IC of GB def. IC of Spain 2-1
IC of GB def. IC of Germany 2-0