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Riverside and Thornden are slugging it out in the Winter Mens Doubles leagues, taking half of all the top spots across the Southampton LTA’s seven divisions.

Riverside hold the edge on ultimate honours right now, but how will things end? It’s still too close to call.

Before we get to that, Tom offers his defence for rough & smooth racquet calls, and we cover the latest news from Hampshire’s clubs and players.

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This week on the show we take a look at how the Southampton LTA's Winter Mixed Doubles leagues are stacking up as players get ready to restart all the action after the Christmas & New Year break.

Rob Ernsberger, captain of Twyford Mixed, joins us to talk about life in Division Two for the team that has secured back-to-back-to-back promotions.

But first, Rob & Dave competed in their first ever match with LTA Umpires. We talk about what that was like, and our main takeaways from that experience. Learn from our do’s and don’ts, hopefully BEFORE you get on court with an umpire!

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hello@thpod.uk

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This week we welcome to the show Mat Johnstone, Hampshire tennis native and the UK’s Number One PST3 Para-Standing Tennis player.

Mat shares his journey from an up-and-coming tennis junior at Warsash to top Para-Standing Tennis player with an eye on the World Top Ten rankings for 2026. Mat shares his early experiences in tennis, the life-changing impact of meningitis at 17, and his subsequent rehabilitation.

We talk with Mat about his transition from wheelchair tennis to para-standing tennis, the challenges he faced, and his aspirations for the future. Mat’s life story highlights the importance of resilience, adaptability, and a lot of what's great about the Hampshire tennis community.

Mat also describes the nuances of walking and parastanding tennis, including the similarities and differences in rules and performance. We also talk a bit of Sabalenka and Kyrgios!

Mat is on Instagram, where you can find him using the handle @matjohnstone23.

You can find out more about Mat, including how to sponsor his pursuit of global top ten, here:

https://sponsorseeker.co.uk/listing/mat-johnstone-para-standing-tennis/

You can follow the global Para Standing Tennis sport here:

https://www.parastandingtennis.com

The LTA’s initiatives in Para Standing Tennis is described here:

https://www.lta.org.uk/play/inclusion-disability/para-standing-tennis/

And you can send us your thoughts for (or about!) the show:

hello@thpod.uk

Speakpipe.com/THPOD

Follow us at:

Instagram @thampshirepod

TikTok: hampshiretennispod

Facebook: The Tennis Hampshire Podcast