The Hamm Bennett

Two tennis titans locked in mortal combat.











For the victor, the spoils, for the loser, ignominy and a burning desire for vengeance.

Labels: 2010, Bennett, Hamm, photos, tennis

Bennett wins; 7 -5, 6 -3

"Perfect numbers, like perfect men, are very rare." Rene Descartes

The 20th anniversary of the Hamm Bennett will perhaps not be remembered for the most scintillating of matches, although at times there was high-quality tennis to be had. Nor would it rank amongst the most compelling of battles, although there was drama here too. No, this was a match all about numbers.

In the 20th year of the contest Hamm was going for an unprecedented 5 wins in a row, a win that would have seen him soaring to 12 - 6 in the overall standings. Bennett meanwhile was desperate to restore some degree of parity to the competition, having been stuck for the past four years on 6 wins - what mathematics would consider a perfect number, Bennett would not.

Both players arrived at a windswept Charlton Park knowing that this contest was a critical one, that this time the numbers were important. This was not just a festive anniversary showpiece, this was a crucial moment in the Hamm Bennett history books.

It was Bennett who took the early initiative. Despite some thunderous Hamm serving, Bennett was returning well and was able to secure an early break. The Bennett serve, whilst lacking the awesome power of Hamm, was proving reliable, drawing Hamm into play before Bennett's crisp groundstrokes and greater accuracy allowed him to claim the points.

And both players were to be commended for their response to the Umpire's controversial decision to switch courts just a few games into the set. The first time such a decision has been taken mid-match, the Umpire was met with howls of derision from what appeared to be some sort of parakeet in the nearby trees, but with commendable stoicism from the players. Whilst the decision was perhaps unavoidable given the blustery conditions and the damaged net on the original court, it did also throw a new variable into the match. The patch of uneven ground near the T on one side gave anyone with the skill to land the ball on it an added advantage - suddenly this was about mastering the environment, as well as mastering your opponent.

But for now the pattern of play continued on the new court. Hamm's game was all about power, the booming serves followed up by raking drives from the back, and even occasional forays to the net to try to overwhelm his opponent. But Bennett had a steel about his game this year that had perhaps been absent over the past few bleak years. At this level so much of the match is played in the mind, and in the past Bennett's fiery temperament has caused him problems. The past few years have been littered with dispirited collapses, breakdowns in confidence and angry outbursts. This year he seemed composed, he seemed determined - but when the pressure was on, would he lose his cool?

The first test came towards the end of the first set. After a string of relatively easy service holds Hamm finally broke back, just as Bennett was closing in on the set. In the past a despondent Bennett might have wavered, but not this time. He broke straight back himself and held his nerve to claim the first set 7 -5. Any Hamm Bennett aficionado will tell you that winning the first set is no guarantee of victory, but something seemed different this year. This time it was Hamm who looked in trouble.

The Hamm locker - his deep-filled reserves of energy that have dug him out of many holes in the past - seemed bare. A tired looking Hamm was seemingly relying on donning a fashionable headband to try to wrest back some control of the match. But the Bennett juggernaut rumbled on.

Hamm, normally so composed, was suddenly making uncharacteristic errors, handing Bennett points. A forehand blasted long, a backhand sliced into the net - this was a rattled Hamm. Bennett meanwhile was peppering the rough area of the court at every opportunity, using every tool at his disposal to gain the upper hand. Hamm had no answer and Bennett raced to a massive lead. And here was the final test of nerve - could he close out the match, could he break Hamm's grip on the title, and break the sequence of perfect numbers for which Hamm was aiming?

Hamm battled, he clawed back a couple of games, but this time it really was only delaying the inevitable. The match ended when Hamm double-faulted on match point to hand victory to his opponent. The winning sequence was not to be extended, the perfect numbers were ruined. This time the only 6 that mattered was Bennett's 6 games in the final set.

This was not the result that those who like mathematical symmetry would have wanted. Rather than the perfect numbers of 12 - 6 in the overall standings, it was 11 -7. Rather than 5 wins in a row for Hamm in the 20th year, it was Bennett breaking the sequence. But perfect numbers, like perfect men, are rare, and this was not a year for Hamm to achieve perfection. Instead it was Bennett who broke his recent duck and threw the competition wide open again - rather than Hamm stretching out to an almost insurmountable lead, this was the result that put Bennett right back in the hunt. Perhaps this is just what the tournament needed.

And in the end that is of course the more important thing - the perfect numbers may have gone, and we may not have seen the perfect tennis this year, but for the tournament perhaps this was the perfect result.

Labels: 2010, Bennett, Hamm, tennis

Hamm Bennett, 15th August 2009

Hamm wins, 4 -6; 7 -6 (7-3); 6 - 3

"Good luck beats early rising." (Irish proverb)

At this year's Hamm Bennett both good luck and early rising were much in evidence - but, it has to be said, rather more for Hamm than for Bennett.

The 'early rising', which cynics suggested may have been a canny ploy from Bennett to throw Hamm off his stride, involved an unprecedented 9am start for this year's tournament, taking place once again in picturesque Greenwich Park. The 'good luck' came in the form of an against-all-odds escape for Hamm with Bennett somehow snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Despite the early start (that involved The Umpire setting off from official offices of the Hamm Bennett Tournament Rules and Regulations Committee at 7.45am) both players were looking sharp in the warm-up. Hamm boasted a new racquet so hi-tech that it probably could have played on its own (using its 'Aerogel' technology), whilst Bennett looked fitter than ever, having been building his stamina with a stringent squash-based exercise regime.

And it was Bennett who got off to the better start, racing to an early lead with consistent and accurate shot-making, against which even Hamm's Aerogel had no response. Soon the set was all but over, and despite a late rally from Hamm, reeling off a few games, Bennett closed out the set 6 - 4.

But, as has been said many times before, winning the first set in a Hamm Bennett is far from a guarantee of victory. For believers in luck, it is seldom a lucky thing to do.

And yet for all the world it looked as though Bennett would fly in the face of fortune as the second set unfolded. Hamm was out-classed, he was out-fought, he had no answer to his opponent. The Bennett juggernaut rolled on, Hamm doing just enough to keep in contention, and soon enough Bennett was serving for the match. Bennett's triumph, wresting back the trophy after three years of heart-break, seemed all but an inevitability.

But history shows us that Hamm does not believe in the inevitable. He regularly faces fate square on and says: "I command my own destiny - I defy you, O fate. I shall exercise my free will and the cause and effect of my actions shall lead me to a destination over which I can exert control, affected by, but not solely led by, the circumstances in which I find myself."

With a combination of iron will and good fortune, the match point was saved, the gap was narrowed and the second set went to a crucial tie-break.

Sensing that his moment had passed, Bennett was visibly shaken. Suddenly the momentum had shifted, the unstoppable force had been halted, and was even beginning to go backwards. Hamm raced through the tie-break and claimed the second set, and Bennett looked broken. He knew that the chance had been there, that he had been the man on form, that he had Hamm where he wanted him... and that it had slipped through his fingers.

It was no surprise that Hamm raced into a big lead in the final set - the sense of deflation from Bennett was palpable. Now it was the Hamm victory that looked inevitable. But was there one final twist in the tale? Suddenly, looking defeat in the eye, Bennett was liberated, finding the freedom of expression that had deserted him following the tie-break. With Hamm needing just one game to win the gap was closed, and again, and again. Was the greatest comeback in Hamm Bennett history about to unfold in front of the eager watching eyes of Mrs Bennett and Bennett Jr.? Well, no. Hamm dug deep, as he so often does, and closed out the match.

The victory means that Hamm has won four times in a row, the first time such a feat has been achieved, and whilst even Hamm himself admitted that his was a lucky victory, it was a victory nonetheless.

Bennett, reflecting on what might have been, and on the victory of his bitter rival, can perhaps take solace in the fact that 'lady luck' smiled on Hamm this time around. As Jean Cocteau said: "We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don't like?".

"Let us leave pretty women to men devoid of imagination." So observed Marcel Proust, a man who would undoubtedly have enjoyed the Hamm Bennett.

The Hamm Bennett 2007 may not have reached the aesthetic heights of last year's tournament, but it was a match of integrity and excitement, for those with imagination to savour - played out for the first time this year in Charlton.

Bennett must have had high hopes at the outset. Playing on home turf, Hamm still acclimatising after his return from the German circuit and with Bennett's traditional dominance of odd years. But the Hamm Bennett is a fickle mistress and all but the most hardened gambler would shy away from predictions.

Bennett's early confidence could have taken a knock as soon as the game began, as he opened with a double fault, but he recovered to take the first game with an unusually comfortable hold of serve. In fact the quality of serving was something of a feature all game. There were no more than four or five double faults all match, and Hamm's booming first serve even produced a couple of aces.

The first set was an attritive battle, and no man ever extended their lead to more than one game - the tie-break, another rarity in Hamm Bennett history, always looked like the only way of separating the players. So it came, and it was the strength of the Hamm serve that was the decisive factor, as he raced through the breaker 7-1 to claim the first set.

Students of the game will of course observe that claiming the first set can often be a curse rather than a blessing - in a match that almost always goes the distance the Hamm Bennett can often be a battle of momentum.

It was difficult to detect a big swing in the second set, as the quality of tennis nose-dived and for a short while it became a rather scrappy encounter. Bennett was swift to accuse passers by of distracting him, whilst Hamm increasingly started blaming cracks in the court for any errors. But the dip in form of both players led to an absorbing tit-for-tat contest with Bennett establishing an early lead, before being hauled back to five games all by Hamm, only for Bennett to suddenly up his game at the crucial moment and take the set 7 - 5.

So it was down to the final set again - was the momentum with Bennett, could Hamm up his game after a poor second set? The answer to the latter question was an emphatic yes. Suddenly Hamm, so insipid and lethargic in the second set, sprung into action. The Hamm serve, which moments earlier was looking like a spent force, suddenly became nigh on un-returnable. As Hamm reeled off game after game to race into a 5 - 1 lead, it looked as if the contest was over, that Bennett had crumbled. But even a highly-tuned athlete like Hamm feels the pressure. Serving for the set he suddenly started to wobble, and Bennett scented weakness. A few blistering returns later it was 5 -2 and Bennett was playing with a freedom that had been absent for the rest of the match. Suddenly he was everywhere, pounding returns from the baseline, in at the net putting away textbook overheads - the defensive battle of the second set banished to a distant memory, by a genuine outbreak of attacking tennis. Soon it was 5 - 3 and the comeback looked on.

But Hamm showed last year that he has a reserve of mental strength that he seems to be able to tap in to at times of crisis. So it was again that he went to the 'Hamm locker', and was not found wanting. With Bennett buzzing around court, sensing the possibility of one of the great sporting comebacks, Hamm steeled himself, somehow found a little extra pace on his serve and finally closed out the final set 6 -3.

Without the sapping heat of last year this Hamm Bennett was more a mental test, than a battle of physical endurance, and once again Hamm was able to plunder his reserves and produce just enough to rise to the challenge. But Proust offers comfort for the loser as well: "Happiness is beneficial for the body, but it is grief that develops the powers of the mind." In a contest that continues to be so closely fought, with so little separating the competitors, it may just be the remembrance of defeat that makes the difference next time round.

Labels: 2007, Bennett, Hamm, match, report, tennis

A date is yet to be finalised for the Hamm Bennett 2007, but early indications suggest it will be held at Maryon Wilson Park, Charlton, London.

Long dubbed the "Carnoustie" of the Hamm Bennett roster, Maryon Wilson Park will be a true tennis test and its vicious undulations and unpredictable bounces will surely take their toll. Hamm's recent defection to the German tour could not have come at a worse time. His newly adopted continental ways are widely expected to struggle with the gritty Charlton surface.

Asked whether he was pleased with the choice of venue, Bennett commented: "It will help enormously. I don't know and I don't care what Hamm had been used to in Germany but fancy Dan these courts ain't".

Rumours abound that Bennett has been training solidly since the winter and the latest betting odds reflect the confidence of the market that he will be crowned Hamm Bennett champion for a seventh time.

Daniel Hamm has sensationally quit the demands of the UK tour to join the upstart German tour based in Cologne. The world number 84,587 has decided to pack his bags and head over to the continent.

Asked whether this was a sign to the tennis world that Hamm was winding down his career, a spokesman for Hamm said: "The opportunity to play in Germany was not one he could lightly pass. He has always had an affection for the German people. The competition out there may not be as demanding as he's used to but rest assured that the Hamm Bennett will go on and he intends to defend the trophy without any difficulty".

Blunt questions must now be asked about Hamm's appetite for serious competition. The odds for a successful Hamm Bennett defence lengthened as the markets digested the shock news.

Reports of Hamm Bennett matches can be found here:

2006 - Hamm Bennett 2006 Match Report

2007 - Hamm Bennett 2007 Match Report

2009 - Hamm Bennett 2009 Match Report

2010 - Hamm Bennett 2010 Match Report

Picking a 'best ever' Hamm Bennett is rather like picking a favourite flower from a field of the most beautiful lillies. But the Hamm Bennett 2006 was surely amongst the most full-blossomed and delicately graceful flowers ever to grow in the field of tennis.

The day began early for the multitude of fans, officials, organisers and players with a testing 10.00am start scehduled at Greenwich Park, which was hosting the event for the second time.

The tournament officials, based in London's fashionable Kennington, arrived in Greenwich for about 9.00am, by which time both players were already present, and ready to engage in the pre-match breakfast. As soon as the sausage sandwiches - and how much of a part were they to play in the events that were shortly to unfold - had been consumed it was time to leave the glamourous WAGs (well W) behind and head to battle.

But before the match could even begin there was controversy. The Hamm Bennett, normally such a masterclass in organisational precision, was delayed following a terrible mix-up with the event's Greenwich Park hosts. Was this all part of a highly developed mind-game from one of the players - a subtle ploy to throw the opponent off their game? Perhaps we will never know, but such tactics have been used in the past - and to great effect. Who can forget the circuitous uphill route to the court planned by Bennett in 2005 that so spectacularly undid Hamm's meticulous preparations?

On this occasion an hours delay to proceedings was the result, and neither competitor seemed overy phased. It did afford the players and officials time to acclimatise to the fierce heat and get some last minute practice before the main event.

Eventually, the match began, and there were no signs of early nerves from Hamm as he raced to an early lead. Bennett simply had no answer to a devastating barrage of forehand drives and viciously sliced backhands, combined with a blistering first-serve. Within minutes Hamm was in a commanding position and Bennett, normally so assured on court, was looking rattled.

As the set went on Bennett began to regain some form, and one or two errors began to creep into the Hamm performance. But by this stage the set was secure, and Hamm went on to claim it 6 - 2.

Followers of the Hamm Bennett will know however that winning the first set can be more of a curse than a blessing. The winner of the first set frequently then succumbs to humiliating defeat, and that knowledge seemed to spur Bennett on to an extra effort, whilst Hamm increasingly seemed to carry the weight of expectation on his shoulders.

After only a few games it was clear that Bennett had found his feet in the second set. He looked calm and relaxed on court, playing with a fluency that had been lacking in earlier games. Time after time Hamm would probe for an opening, but Bennett would shut the door - blasting yet another forehand winner, or forcing an error from his opponent with a beautifully weighted backhand.

The game was delicately poised, but Bennett always had the upper-hand, and after a gruelling set, where the weather and the over-heavy sausage sandwiches consumed at breakfast began to take their toll on both men, he wrapped up a 6 - 4 set, to level the match at 1 - 1.

Few would have dared a bet on the outcome now. Bennett had the momentum, and Hamm must have been worried about becoming yet another first-set winner ending up as the loser. But the omens were not all with Bennett. Hamm's record in even numbered years is considerably better than Bennett's -he leads 7 - 2 on that score. In 2007 Bennett will no doubt fancy his chances with a 4 - 1 lead in odd-numbered years.

There was nothing to choose between the two competitors. Neither one seemed to be flagging in the heat, neither one seemed to let the pressure get to them. Game after game went to deuce, and was eventually taken by one or the other player by the narrowest of margin or the tightest of line calls. Each point seemed to last an eternity with neither man willing to give an inch - it was an irresistible force meeting an immovable object.

The quality of the tennis has surely never been higher than in this final set, that lasted for well over an hour.

Hamm had one chance to wrap up a 7 - 5 victory, but it was quickly snuffed out, as Bennett pressed for his own chance. As Hamm won through yet another tight game to go 8 - 7 up there was a sense that surely, at some point, something had to give. Both players steeled themselves for the final heroic effort, but it was Hamm who suddenly cut loose with some sensational attacking tennis to earn himself championship point again. Bennett battled, but finally, after nearly three hours on court, Hamm ground out the win and took the final set 9 - 7.

It was a game of epic quality, and it was painful that one man had to lose. As Virginia Woolf once said: "The beauty of the world, which is so soon to perish, has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder."

So the Hamm Bennett could not exist without a winner and a loser, without the epic struggle - without the beuaty and the horror, the anguish and the laughter.

In each case, I leave you to guess which noun applies to which player.

Final result:

Hamm bt. Bennett, 6 - 2, 4 - 6, 9 - 7

From various Newswires:

The allegations of widespread steroid abuse in the Hamm Bennett will be thoroughly investigated, according to official sources.

Whilst a spokesperson for the Hamm Bennett Umpire refused to comment on the allegations, sources close to the tournament's organising committee said that the story was being taken seriously.

"We've seen two ordinary men producing extraordinary feats out there - we're certainly not ruling anything out at this stage. All I can say is that some of the things that happened out on court were not natural, and we need an explanation."

It is unclear what options remain open to officials, but the most likely outcome of a positive test would be a fine of around £2million handed out by the event's governing body.

After his epic 2-6, 6-4, 7-9 defeat, Tim Bennett refused to be downbeat: "All credit to Dan, he was the better player on the day" said Bennett. "On a different day, at a different time, the result would have been different. It's a massive question of 'what ifs', 'herebutfors' and 'hithertos'."

Asked why his hard-hitting baseline rhythm took a set and a half to discover, Bennett jovially blamed his breakfast: "I had some 'Hamm' for breakfast but not in the way I would have preferred. Next year I'll stick to the corn flakes" he joked.

Almost ten days after the event, Bennett's refusal to take part in a joint lap of honour remains highly controversial. "Let's just say I don't celebrate other people's success especially when serve-enhancing substances may have been involved" he commented.

For many years Hamm and Bennett, two great titans of the tennis world, have been battling it out for the title of Hamm Bennett Champion. There are no losers in the Hamm Bennett, but more accurately, there are. So here it is - the great history of one of sports most enduring competitions.

The Roll of Honour

1990 Bennett
1992 Hamm
1994 Hamm
1996 Bennett
1997 Bennett
1998 Hamm
1999 Hamm
2000 Hamm
2001 Bennett
2002 Hamm
2003 Bennett
2004 Hamm
2005 Bennett
2006 Hamm (Greenwich Park, Greenwich)
2007 Hamm (Maryon Park, Charlton)
2008 Hamm (Greenwich Park, Greenwich)
2009 Hamm (Greenwich Park, Greenwich)
2010 Bennett (Charlton Park, Charlton)

Highlights from HB '06