HOT-SHOT Wendy Stirke won a superb treble at the wettest City of York Tennis Championships finals ever recorded.

Torrential rain delayed play at Clifton Park for almost an hour but within 30 minutes the heavens opened again and drenched the players as umbrellas and anoraks were more prevalent than shorts and shades.

But Stirke remained undeterred as she and mixed doubles partner Steve Smith beat twice-reigning holders Margaret Whitehead and Andy Cooke in three sets, before teaming up with regular partner Louise Lister in the open age ladies doubles to repeat their over-40s ladies doubles win earlier in the week.

Losing opponent Whitehead, who combined her on-court efforts with her role as tournament referee, was this time partnered by young-gun Danielle Baker but Lister and Stirke won 7-5 7-5.

Said Stirke: "The most unexpected was the mixed doubles because they beat us in the final last year, and the ladies open age was a lot harder than the vets, especially with all these people watching."

Jill Rounce completely overhauled her game to fit the weather conditions and emerged victorious in the women's singles to add the city outdoor title to her table tennis crown.

The spin supremo admitted she was almost in tears after a nightmare first set as the rain washed out her natural game.

But as soon as she adopted the flat game of Fulford team-mate Di Ekers, she found herself carving out a win and eventually triumphed 1-6 6-1 6-3.

She said: "I think the turning point came when I realised that I couldn't spin and that I had to resort to a flat hit game like Di's. I had to completely alter the way I played. Everyone watching was laughing because they knew I couldn't play in the rain."

Big hitting Phil Langley powered his way past Tito Latoja 6-7 (9-11) 6-4 6-2 in the men's final to justify his surprise number one seeding having not entered the singles for a number of years.

The win came despite a mix-up in the first set tie-break where he served an ace to go ahead 10-9 before realising they had forgotten to switch ends at 9-9. The pair opted to scratch the point instead of changing ends for the next five points and Langley double faulted for Latoja to claim the set on his next serve.

In the second set, Langley bounced back from a break down to win 6-4 before finishing his opponent off with two breaks in the third to serve out for the championship.

He said: "It was a close game and I am delighted to have won. There were a few absentees this year so hopefully the council will get it back in Rowntrees Park and we can get the entries back up."

His dad, Stuart, had earlier ensured a good night in the Langley household after claiming the over-45s men's doubles with five-times winner Stuart Robertson over newcomers Derek Andrews and Ed Burton, 6-2 2-6 6-3.

He said: "We lost our way a bit in the second set because we relaxed a bit but came good in the end. We seriously debated coming off after the second, but everyone else was carrying on so we thought we should, too."

The men's veteran singles was won by Simon Watson after Pete Sutherland pulled out with a leg injury at the beginning of the second set with the score at 6-2 2-0.

And the shortest match of the day was in the men's doubles final where legends Andy Cooke and Steve Smith - who had just faced each other in the mixed final - wiped the floor with Paul Birch and Matthew Stephenson 6-0 6-1.

It was their seventh win in eight years as a couple, leaving Smith to joke they were thinking about retiring because they were too old.

Updated: 08:59 Monday, July 19, 2004