It was a hugely successful weekend for Naas Lawn Tennis Club at the 4 Nations in Leeds, held on 21–22 March 2026, with no fewer than seven Naas players proudly representing Ireland across multiple categories.
The headline story of the weekend undoubtedly came from the Ladies Open, where Anna Zuka and Amy Flynn flew the flag in style. The pair helped Ireland produce a brilliant performance, finishing 2nd overall, behind England and ahead of both Scotland and Wales. Winning two of their three matches, Anna and Amy showed incredible heart, quality, and fighting spirit throughout the weekend.
Ladies Open lead the way
The Open Ladies team was half filled with Naas talent, with Anna Zuka and Amy Flynn both selected for the Irish side.
Anna, partnering Tanya Murtagh, got off to a strong start with a superb 7-5 4-6 10-2 win over Scotland’s No. 1 pair. Amy, alongside Irish tennis superstar Sinead Lohan, also delivered for Ireland with a win over Scotland’s No. 2 pair 6-4 1-6 10-4.
Against England, Anna and Tanya were involved in a real battle, narrowly losing a high-quality contest 7-6, 7-5 to the English No. 1 pair, who are both ranked inside the top 600 in the world. Amy and Sinead had a tough battle against the solid English pair, ranked 700-900, losing out 3-6 1-6 in the end. Amy and Sinead kept the Irish momentum going with another win, this time against Wales’ No. 2 pair.
The weekend ended on a high for Anna and Tanya, who produced a dominant display to beat Wales’ No. 1 pair 6-1, 6-2. Amy and Sinead were also impressive again, taking down Wales’ No. 2 pair 6-0, 6-4.
A fantastic effort all round, and a brilliant runner-up finish for Ireland in the Ladies Open.
Naas power in the Ladies Over-40s
Naas players made up an incredible three-quarters of the Irish Ladies Over-40s team, with Deirdre Ní Bhroin, Laura Gibson, and Valerie Watters all representing the club.
Valerie Watters and Laura Gibson were desperately unlucky in their match against Scotland’s No. 1 pair, losing 15-13 in the third set after letting a few, ahem... match points slip away! 😢 It was one of those heartbreaking matches that could have gone either way. They then produced an excellent first set against England’s top pair before eventually losing 7-6, 6-2, and later faced the very strong Welsh No. 1 pair who had already beaten the English and Scottish pairings.
Deirdre Ní Bhroin, partnering Caroline Jordan from Portmarnock, faced tough opposition in Wales, Scotland and England, going down 2-0 in both ties, but battled hard throughout.
Kevin goes close in Men’s Over-40s
In the Men’s Over-40s, Kevin O’Brien teamed up with London-based, Irish born and raised Brian Condren, formerly of Bray.
Their opening match against Scotland was a competitive affair, however, it was their first time playing together, with the pair losing 6-4, 6-4. Against England, they came up against a very strong pair and, by Kevin’s own admission, got a bit of a free lesson in how to make a padel court on his side feel double the size! losing 6-1, 6-0.
But the best was saved for Wales. Kevin and Brian, getting used to each other's playing styles and working better as a pair, bounced back superbly and came agonisingly close to a win, losing a nail-biter 6-4, 2-6, 10-8. In the end, they were just two points away from victory, with a slow start to the match tiebreak, going 4-1 down too early, proving too much to overcome.
Pete takes one for the team
Special mention also goes to Pete Lowther, who was the only man brave enough to “step down” and play at a tougher level in the Over-50s, after a late injury forced a reshuffle in the Irish team.
Partnering Fintan from Celbridge, Pete put in a strong performance and gave the English pair a real run for their money, despite losing out in straight sets. A great example of stepping up for the team when needed.
Flying the flag for Naas
All in all, it was a fantastic weekend for Naas LTC, with players contributing across the board and representing both club and country with distinction.
And while the over-40s and over-50s squads battled bravely all weekend, it was the “younger guns” Anna and Amy who really lit up Leeds and showed the rest how it’s done.
A brilliant weekend for Naas, a brilliant weekend for Ireland, and plenty of memories to bring home.
Be sure to keep an eye on Louis Jarrod’s youtube channel (Irish men’s open player) who will have a good video or two coming up of some of their matches!
You can catch some of the action again in these match recaps: Match Stream 1 and Match Stream 2.