The Norfolk JCT took place at Easton College in which Matt was number 2 seed for the tournament.A bye in the first round gave Matt a quarter final match against Tom Baker (Norfolk). At 3-3 both players were playing well and then Matt took the initiative to go 5-3 before taking the 1st set 6-4. Matt took the 2nd set 6-2 to set up a semi final with Ben Attle (Cambs).
In the semi final Matt looked more comfortable and proved to be the stronger player. He stormed through the match to take it 6-2,6-1 even though Ben was a year older.
This win took Matt to the final against William Cooke Wharton (Suffolk). William was the number 1 seed and has always proved himself to be a strong player. The pair had met several times in more than a year of tournaments and William had won every match. Matt would need to play to his very best to stand any chance of taking anything from the match. It would prove to be a good test to see how far Matt had improved having worked with the Norfolk Tennis Academy since September 2009.
At 5-2 to William in the 1st set it looked like history would be on Williams side. But Matt dug deep and managed to get to 5-4 before William found the way to take the next game to claim the 1st set. In the 2nd set Matt managed to put the 1st set to one side to go 4-2 up. It was looking good for Matt who was playing some of his best tennis. William fought back to 4-4 and seemed to be the more positive player before Matt called upon all of his match playing experience to power through the next two games to claim the 2nd set 6-4. This was sure to set up a nervous 3rd set match tie break. Matt seemed determined to alter history between the two players by storming to a 7-4 lead, they shared the next two points before Matt made sure of the victory with a 10-5 win.
After the match Matt described it as the best win of his young tennis career.
