St Leonards ace stars in Great Britain triumph

The victorious Great Britain team of Libby Eden (left), Frances Candy (second-right) and Pat Wire (right) with Australian great Paul McNamee.

The St Leonards-based player won all of her singles matches as Team GB triumphed in La Carreta 2017, a tournament involving International Clubs from different countries.

Great Britain lost just two games across the three rubbers in their opening match against Bulgaria 2. Candy won the 60+ singles against Hristina Bratanova 6-0, 6-0.

GB dropped only four games in the 3-0 win over Bulgaria 1 the following day. Candy, captaining the team for the first time, cruised past Hristina Tabakova 6-0, 6-1.

With France having also beaten the Bulgarian teams 3-0, the match between France and Great Britain - played on the spectacular centre court - would decide the winners.

Candy, a coach at Rye LTC, defeated Brigitte Cadoret 6-1, 6-3, and although Libby Eden lost the 50+ encounter, Eden and Patricia Wire won the doubles 6-2, 6-3 to secure a 2-1 victory.

The event was played on clay courts at the Bulgarian National Tennis Centre in Sofia and the great Australian doubles player Paul McNamee was in attendance for all four days.

Candy’s niece, Suzy Larkin, is currently in Australia as she continues her globetrotting adventures on the ITF Professional Women’s Tennis Tour.

The 25-year-old from St Leonards was last week narrowly beaten in a terrific match against the sister of Australian men’s star Bernard Tomic.