Ollie Stevenson
Last season, Nottingham’s Men ended a 71-year wait to become tennis national champions, their first title since 1954, beating Stirling in the final to deny them a third consecutive Championship.
It was one of the defining results of BUCS Big Wednesday in 2025, and it lit the fuse on what has quickly become one of the defining rivalries in university tennis. Twelve months on, the two sides are back in the same fixture, and Stirling have spent an entire season making it clear they want that trophy back.
They’ve backed it up with their results. Last season Stirling’s men’s tennis side were the best team in the country. They finished the league campaign unbeaten – eight wins from ten games with two draws, 26 points – while Nottingham sat second with six wins, two draws and two defeats. In the two league meetings between the sides, Stirling won 6-0 and 4-2. Dominant, in any reading of the word.
Then they met in the BUCS final, and Notts won 4-2.
The squad Stirling will bring to Loughborough is formidable. Captain Liam Hignett is one the best university tennis players in the country, winning silver with Great Britain at the Master’U BNP Paribas earlier this season, widely regarded as the premier international event in university tennis. Alongside him, Nemanja Malesevic, Cameron Fryer and Key McKay form a lineup that beat Durham 5-1 in the semi-final last week without breaking stride.
This year the gap in the league is familiar. Stirling finished top with 26 points from ten games, eight wins and two draws, finishing unbeaten. Nottingham came second with 24 points, eight wins and two losses. The head-to-head again makes difficult reading for Notts tennis fans: Stirling beat them 5-1 away in the league, then 4-1 at home. Two meetings, two heavy defeats, 9-2 on aggregate.
Different season, same pattern – Stirling looking like the better side across the course of the campaign, Nottingham needing to prove it again on the day that counts.
For Stirling, this is a chance to settle a year’s worth of frustration in one afternoon. They have won the league title back-to-back, they hold the head-to-head both seasons, and last year they still went home empty handed.
To be the best team in the country across 20 league games and have nothing to show for it because of one afternoon in March means they will not underestimate Nottingham. They cannot afford to.
Their ambition goes beyond just the championship. Their 2s are in the National Vase final after knocking out Notts in the semi’s, their 3s are in the Trophy Final, also playing a strong Notts outfit in that match. Nottingham are facing a programme that has built itself to compete for every available title on the same afternoon.
The Green and Gold are also packed with talented players who are capable of getting them over the line. Four UoN players were in the quarter-finals of the recent BUCS Individual Championships, with Maxwell Smith defeating team-mate Javier Montoya in the semi-finals on the way to a silver medal, and they will be looking for more success in this final.
Another advantage Nottingham have that no league table or head-to-head record can quantify is the experience of winning this exact occasion against this exact opposition.
Last year, Stirling were the better side across the season and lost the final anyway. That happened once. The question now is whether Nottingham can make it happen again, or whether Stirling’s relentless campaign across the whole year – league, cup, trophy, vase, all of it – finally gets the reward it so desperately needs.
The head-to-head says Stirling. Last year’s final says Nottingham. It probably comes down to one rubber either way.
Match Details
Where? Dan Maskell Tennis Centre, Loughborough University
When? Wednesday 25th March, 3:30pm
How to watch? Live on BUCS YouTube as part of Big Wednesday coverage
Ollie Stevenson
Featured image courtesy of UoN Sport. No changes were made to this image.
In article Image 1 courtesy of UoN Sport. No changes were made to this image.
In article Image 2 courtesy of UoN Sport. No changes were made to this image.
