With membership now reaching 400, tennis is certainly seeing a resurgence in the region. The best courts in Australia are being used everyday of the week with programs to cater for all members. New players are always welcome and please feel free to get involved.
Saturday Morning Tennis
The courts were filled to absolute capacity on Saturday morning which was a testament to the junior programs being delivered by the coaches. Each week more juniors are joining and the club is certainly keen to further increase the junior membership base.
Under the tutorage of Carolyn Duns and Jack Bassett each of the three groups were challenged with various drills and games.
The volleying game ‘Milkshake’ is always very popular. Extra helpers are essential and the kids really enjoy parents being involved in the activities.
Coaching sessions on the grass courts were action packed under the guidance of Greg Duns and Liam Williams.
This component of Saturday morning has seen the biggest growth area. The kids in these groups are making rapid improvements and their ability to rally is developing.
To prepare players for match play, 12 of the coaching graduates have commenced some modified match play. These players are starting to serve consistently and this bodes well for their tennis development.
In matches 28 players competed in 4 groups. Each player competed in 2 doubles and 1 singles set for the day. There were many very close matches and it is so good to see the amount of enjoyment had by all the players.
Results: Group 1 - Ed Judd 18, Emily Linehan 18, Laynee Rhodes 16, Kristy Hardman 16.
Group 2 - James Cummins 18, Callum Coates 18, Zoe Schweda 15, Eliza Whitely 15, Kendall Connell 15.
Group 3 - Sam Cummins 11, Tadhg Foran 11, Ella Lewis 11.
Group 4 - Finn Angwin 18, Caitlin Brew 16, Taylah Bigger 8.
This week will be the final Saturday morning before the Christmas break. As is tradition the final morning is the Parent/ Child morning for all players that play matches.
The players are asked to bring a parent, sibling, family member or a friend to play in a morning of doubles fun. If the kids can’t find anyone to play with the club will find a pairing on the day.
Premier League
The final week of the Premier League was completed on Saturday. The Premier League competition allowed 16 of the strongest juniors to compete as part of a team for a round robin event.
In the first match Williams played Federer. Williams claimed 3 sets to 1 in the doubles with Lucy Bassett and Kaleisha Pell both winning 2 sets. Jess Arnold and Eva Cummins claimed the sole set for Federer.
In the singles the sets were tied 2 all with Lucy and Sam Bigger for Williams and Eva and Emma Thompson for Federer each victorious. Overall Williams won 5 sets to 3.
In the other match Barty took on Nadal. In the doubles Barty won 3 sets to 1 with Jayden Arnold and Ella Rhodes claiming 2 sets for Barty. Max Loughnan and Harrison Lappin won their set for Nadal.
In the singles it was a clean sweep for Barty with Jayden, Ella, Portia Kaine and Hayley Bennett all being victorious. Overall Barty won 7 sets to 1.
At the end of the Premier League the ladder was Barty 20, Williams 13, Federer 8, Nadal 7. Presentations will be held this Saturday morning for all competitors.
Sportspower Tournament
It was fantastic to see five of the juniors travel over to Wangaratta to play in the third Sportspower Tournament of the season on Sunday.
Two of the club’s newest juniors, Harrison and Parker Lappin both challenged themselves at a higher level and played really well.
Harrison eventually finished runners up in the 16/u B Division. Big improver Portia Kaine played really well to claim some big scalps.
Tess Bassett had a very good tournament finishing runners up in the 12/u A Division. The ever-consistent Lucy Bassett won five sets on the way to claim the 14/u A Division.
Well done to all in attendance with the next tournament in this series in Yarrawonga on Sunday February 21.
Goulburn Murray Tennis
Saturday Goulburn Murray team made the journey across to Nathalia to take on the ladder leaders. Nathalia has been perennial finalists in Division 2.
Yarrawonga started off strongly with a narrow tie breaker singles win to Ellen Bruce playing her first match of the year.
Siblings Jack and Lucy Bassett continued their undefeated singles run with convincing wins. Liam Williams narrowly lost his set.
It is fantastic to see these three juniors continue to develop their tennis.
In the doubles Nathalia outplayed Yarrawonga with the combinations of Ellen and Gert Brunner and Lucy and Gert both being soundly defeated.
In his debut for Goulburn Murray Jason Bassett lost with son Jack 8-3. In the other men’s doubles Jason and Liam lost 8-7 after stumbling in the tiebreaker.
By the time the mixed matches were due to commence the rain had well and truly settled in and the courts were unplayable.
This meant that overall Nathalia won 5 sets to 3 to claim victory on the day.
This week Yarrawonga take on Shepparton at home in the last match before the Christmas break.
Thursday Ladies Tennis
Thursday night presented a wonderful evening for Round 4 of Ladies Tennis. The night was really enjoyable and with a few rounds now completed the rallies have certainly increased meaning a later finish than normal.
In the first match it was a very even contest between Happy and Doc with every set being 6-3 or closer. For Happy, Win Win Htwe continued her great form once again winning 3 sets for the night whilst Pam Duff and Sandra Heaney won 2 sets.
Best for Doc was Angela Mitchell as she was victorious in 2 of her sets. Overall 4 sets to 2 win to Happy.
Sneezy and Sleepy also had some great battles although Sneezy were able to clinch the close sets as they won 5 sets to 1.
Leading the way for Sneezy were the combination of Chris Hawkins and Chris Carr who both won all of their sets and this was ably supported by Alana Harris and Lorraine Dean winning 2 sets each. Kirsty Skene and Barb Phibbs won the sole set for Sleepy with a 6-1 victory.
In the final match of the night Dopey took on Bashful with Dopey indicating their name is not truly reflective of their tennis ability winning all 6 sets on the night.
Gert Brunner, Narelle Bassett, Jess Linehan and Norma Toms all played well to win three sets. Loz Wallace and Linda Cunningham were the closest to a victory for Bashful narrowly losing 6-5 in one of their sets.
With Round 4 completed the ladder is Happy 26, Dopey 22, Grumpy 16, Sneezy 16, Doc 14, Sleepy 11, Bashful 7.
This Thursday will be the final week of the ladies tennis before Christmas. Everyone is encouraged to stay for some pizza and a drink to dissect the great tennis that has been played during the first half of the season.
Tuesday Men’s Tennis
Blustery cooler conditions affected both the standard of the tennis and also the number of bar sales last Thursday night for the Mens’ competition.
Many times, the wind was blamed for poor shots when undoubtably it was the execution of the shot that was at fault.
In the battle of the Mount S’s, Speculation and Stirling had a very enjoyable hit with lots of close matches.
For Stirling, young gun Lochie Forge led the way winning 3 sets with support from veterans Mike Lairson and Jason Bassett having 2 victories.
For Speculation fill-in Noel Thomas won two sets. Overall it was Stirling winning 4 sets to 2.
Bogong and St Gwinear needed to rely on the lights of nearby cars to get finished after their match had a tiebreaker and three 7-5 results.
Bogong eventually came out on top with a 4 sets to 2 win. For Bogong Daryl Bennett won 3 sets Cliff Nguyen and Fred Exton took out 2 sets each.
For St Gwinear Wei Wong claimed 2 wins and was happy to knock off fellow tooth extractor Cliff.
Baw Baw had a 5-1 set win over Feathertop. Fill-in John Brunner and Rohan Kaine each took out 3 sets with Glen Butler and Mat Brewer winning 2 sets.
Aaron Loughnan and Jim Zanin won the sole set for Feathertop. It was noted that Luke Buerckner was not as chirpy as normal after receiving a tennis lesson from local legend John Brunner.
Wellington continued their dominance of the competition with a 6-0 set win over Buller. Wellington’s players Jack Bassett, Dave Porter, Pat Mansfield and Simon De Oleveira all won 3 sets each.
It was acknowledged that Buller’s best player was Liam Williams who is rapidly developing into one of the club’s best players.
Hotham also made a statement on the progression of their season with a 6-0 victory over Buffalo. With Captain Cox on vacation his team appeared to thrive without their leader with fill-in Andrew Beggs, Ben Cope, Tim O’Dwyer and Brett Chapman each winning 3 sets. For Buffalo Ash Wheaton and Andrew Brew nearly stole a set after falling in a tie breaker.
With Round 4 finished the ladder is Wellington 27, Bogong 22, Hotham 20, Howitt 20, Stirling 19, St Gwinear 18, Baw Baw 16, Buffalo 10, Speculation 9, Buller 8, Feathertop 7.
Friday Night Aggregate
Each Friday night the Aggregate night is held. There was some good tennis played last week and all members are invited to come down for a social hit.
Group 1 saw big serving Grant Chappell win each of his sets. Chris Mortimore and Mat Brewer won 2 each with Mike Lairson and Chris Pritchard also playing well.
In group 2 a lot of banter was had with all players having an enjoyable night with some handy tennis played as well. Jason Bassett won 3 sets and Amy Lairson took out 2 sets. Julie Pritchard, Michael Barclay and Hans Lang all claimed a set each.
Rock up and play
These are sessions where you can simply sign-in on the day continue to be popular. As well as Friday aggregate all members and visitors are welcome on Saturdays at 1pm, ladies Tuesdays at 9am and Wednesdays at 9am for the men. Please note the change of time for the Tuesday ladies to get out of the hotter weather. More that merrier.
Enquiries
If you are interested in any of the wonderful and diverse tennis programs during the week please ring Jason Bassett on 0448 838 256 who will provide relevant contacts for each program.