The day dawned dull and windy for the culmination of Crowthorne Tennis Club's annual knockout tournament with their Finals Day at their courts in St.Sebastian's Field, Nine Mile Ride. Starting at 10 o'clock, the first event was the Men's Singles with Jim Hawes challenging this year's favourite Ed Berridge. With both players contesting their first singles final, the first set started with both playing nervously, Jim taking the first two games and Ed the next two. Jim was the first to settle, serving well to win the first set 6-4.

The second set was an evenly fought contest with some fine tennis being played, but, again, Jim got the vital break at 5-all and served for the set, match and championship. On match point, the view of both the line judge and the umpire were obscured as the ball landed either just inside or just outside the baseline, so the point had to be replayed. Ed won the point and the game and so the match went into a tie-break. Once again, Jim went into an early lead and served at 5-2, but this time he was unable to hold his nerve and his serve, so Ed was now serving at 4-5. Finally Ed's fighting spirit deservedly paid off as he won the tie-break to take the match into a final set.

With Jim left to ponder over his missed chances in the second set, it would have been no surprise if his head had dropped and Ed had taken an early lead. But this didn't happen and with both players producing tennis of outstanding quality, it was impossible to forecast the result. As long as Jim's service held up, Ed was unable to make the telling forehand returns which his game relied on, but as soon as it faltered, Jim was under pressure. Ed's serve and volley tactic was now starting to pay dividends with any slightly high returns being rapidly dispatched. But enough of Jim's returns were low enough to make volleying difficult and with errors mounting as Ed struggled to find an opening, Jim managed to edge ahead, finding himself serving for the set at 5-3. Jim started the game nervously as he remembered his missed chances from the previous set, but he held his nerve to take the game and the match, the most closely fought men's singles finals to have been played at the club for many years.

In the next event, the holders, Joan Reynolds and Laurene Lawrence, were defending their Ladies' Doubles title against June Mann and Moira Macbeth. Joan and Laurene were quickly into their stride, taking the first set 6-1 but in the second, they met stronger resistance. However, the defending champions always looked to be in control and took the set 6-3 thereby retaining the title.

Following a break for lunch, the two men's singles finalists were back on court again for the Men's Doubles final. Jim Hawes and Mike Smith, the beaten finalists in 1999, were playing Ed Berridge and Vince Brooks and up to 2-all in the first set, there was nothing between them. But at that point, Jim and Mike got the vital break through some fine returning and consolidated their lead by holding serve in the following game to lead 4-2. It was vital now for Ed and Vince to hold serve knowing that Jim, who had served so well in the singles, was to follow. But Jim and Mike prevailed after a long game and Jim served out for the set 6-2.

The second set followed a similar pattern, although this time the first four games were breaks of serve, and again it was Jim and Mike who got the first break. At 4-2 down, Vince was serving consistently down the middle of the court to test Mike's weaker backhand and Jim's less consistent forehand. Ed killed anything within range at the net, but Mike and Jim were able to chip the ball low to Vince coming in to volley and after another long game, the second break was made, leaving Jim to serve out again for the match and the title 6-2 6-2.

In the Ladies' Singles final, Caroline Atkinson met Jackie Castell, a veteran of several finals but never a winner. With Caroline nervous to be in her first final and Jackie playing as steadily as ever, the first set was over quickly with Jackie winning 6-0.

In the second, there was tremendous applause as Caroline won her first game by breaking Jackie's serve to square the set at one all. She was now getting into the match by playing good shots on both wings and making use of her height at the net. Games went against serve until the eighth in the set when Jackie held to lead 5-3. Caroline now had to hold her serve for the first time in the match to avoid defeat and bravely did so to force Jackie to serve out for the match. At 30-all there was still hope for Caroline, but Jackie held on to win the set 6-4 and take the title for the first time.

The final event was the Mixed Doubles in which Bob and Joan Reynolds met Ed Berridge, in his third final, and Margaret Williams. Bob and Joan had won this event about 25 years previously and were determined that the passage of time should not prevent them regaining the title. However, Ed having lost in his two previous appearances of the day, was equally determined that he and Margaret would take the crown. With the opening two games going with serve, Joan was broken first to give Ed and Margaret the first advantage, but the next game, the longest of the match was possibly the pivotal one in the contest. With Margaret serving, the game went to six deuces before Bob and Joan broke back to square the match at 2-2 instead of having to battle from 1-3 down. The next game was also close but Bob and Joan won it after just the one deuce to lead 3-2.

Two games later they were leading 5-2 and Margaret was serving to keep her side in the set. She and Ed held serve and now Bob was serving for the match at 5-3. After two deuces Ed and Margaret had broken again to make the score 5-4 and Ed had to survive just one deuce before winning his service game to even the score at 5-all. After losing three games in a row it was now up to Bob and Joan to stop the rot and after another deuce game they had held to put the pressure back on to Ed and Margaret. Margaret once again had to hold service to save the set and with Ed dominant at the net, they took the score to 6-all and a tie-break. Bob and Joan took an early lead in the tie-break but Ed and Margaret fought back to 5-all before Bob and Joan scraped home 7-5 to win the first set.

After a thrilling first set, there was no reason to suppose the second would be any different. This time Ed and Margaret stormed into a 3-love lead, winning two close games and holding serve in the third. But the pendulum then swung back with Bob and Joan winning four in a row to lead 4-3. Back came Ed and Margaret, breaking Bob's serve to square the set at 4-all, but Bob and Joan broke back immediately in emphatic style to leave Joan to serve out at 5-4. Ed and Margaret continued their fight to the end getting to 30-all but not able to prevent Bob and Joan regaining the Mixed Doubles title after 25 years.

The trophies were presented to the winners and runners up by the club president Geoff Lee and his wife Paddy. The award for Most Improved Player went to Andy Stone and Karen Smith received the award for Services to the Club..