The finals of the Isle of Man Tennis Championships took place at Douglas Lawn Tennis Club’s Kensington Road courts over the weekend.

This was the culmination of nine days of play and 53 matches, with an average match time of 64 minutes.

Clearly a lot of tennis took place, with the Island Games team members taking advantage of the opportunity for match practice before next week’s Games in Guernsey.

In the men’s singles final junior Orry Farnworth took on his doubles partner Sean Drewry, winner of the title twice in the recent past.

The power applied by both players in windy and difficult conditions didn’t stop there being many long and hotly-contested rallies, but Drewry’s experience and maturity prevailed this year, winning 6/0, 6/2.

The men’s singles consolation, for players who lost their opening match, Neri Gricevicius beat Andrew Maxwell 6/4, 6/0.

The women’s singles final saw 22-time champion Karen Faragher, 46, taking on first-time finalist Anna Kirk, less than half her age at 21.

Evergreen Faragher took the first set 6/3 but Kirk fought back, hitting many winners during the match and winning the second set 7/6, [7-5] in the tie-break, forcing a third set Champions tie-break.

Faragher eventually got the upper hand 9-5 but her young opponent wasn’t finished and fought back to 9-8 before Karen secured the last point to take the title, her 23rd, [10-8]. The final score 6/3, 6/7[5-7], [10-8].

In the men’s doubles final Farnworth and Drewry took on Gricevicius and Rob Comber in a lengthy contest that the score doesn’t reflect. The latter pair pushed the champions hard in the second set but Farnworth/Drewry couldn’t be denied, winning 6/2, 6/4.

The women’s doubles final saw defending champions Karen Fargher and Rosie Manuja take on Aailish Kelly and Anna Kirk.

This was Kelly’s third women’s doubles final in a row, having lost in the previous two years in the third set Champions tie-break with different partners.

Kelly and Kirk got off to a fast start when taking the first set 6/4. The defending champions fought back to take the second set 6/3.

The third set Champions tie-break was a tense affair but the younger pairing of Kelly and Kirk eventually getting the better of their older opponents winning 6/4, 3/6, [10-6].

The mixed doubles final saw Kirk and Drewry defeat 2022 champions Faragher and Marc Chinn 6/2, 7/5 in a match that saw multiple breaks of serve.

The presentations were carried out by Isle of Man Lawn Tennis Association chairman Brian Walton, who thanked the tournament director and referee Paul Jarvis for his efforts over the previous nine days to bring the tournament to a successful conclusion on schedule.