On the weekend Yarrawonga hosted an International Tennis Federation’s Seniors Tournament. The Victorian Seniors Grass court Championships is highly regarded and carries substantial ranking points.
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An indication of the calibre of the players is that the number 1 player in the world for each of the 50+, 60+ and 70+ mens divisions were playing. Players travelled from throughout Australia.
There were also 15 overseas players which was fantastic. Spectators were truly treated to some elite tennis.
Yarrawonga’s John Brunner took to the court in the 55+ division. In the doubles he was knocked out relatively early in the piece.
John performed sensationally in the singles where he won through to the semi-finals. Against the number one seed he had a great match before going down 6/4, 7/5.
This tournament has become a regular event on the Seniors Circuit and will return next year.
Saturday morning tennis
With many of the visitors from the ITF tournament in awe of the numbers of juniors playing, it was another fantastic morning of tennis. Again every court was filled, and even more kids are joining each week.
The Hot Shots players are rapidly improving and are really enjoying the drills that they undertake. The coaches Lucy, Mekaylah, Tess and Emily are extremely impressed with the enthusiasm of the players and appreciate the support of the parents.
Any practice at home or even coming down to the courts midweek will only improve the skill of the players.
The numbers in the coaching groups were bursting at the seams and again the development has been immense. Club Coach Greg Duns is passionate about continually improving the players and with coaches Jack, Jess, Fraser, Ella and Laynee the skills are looking fantastic. Some members of the coaching groups will be elevated to match play in the next few weeks.
The matches were played in the regular format with players selecting to play either all doubles or a singles and a doubles.
Leading players in the players in the groups were Flynn Cox, Abby Moloney, Jackson Wheeler, Tague Saunders, Phoenix Thomas, Jasmine Ellis, Finin George and Darby Thompson.
Next week the players in match play will play mixed doubles and then the final week on December 10 will be the extremely popular parent/child doubles.
Premier League
The final week of Premier League produced some more outstanding tennis from the strongest Saturday morning juniors. In the Premier League there are 4 teams of 6 players and each player completes two doubles matches and a singles match.
In the first match Kyrgios took on Saville. There was some excellent tennis with Kyrgios eventually winning 8 sets to 4. The Kyrgios girls had a fantastic morning and claimed all of the 6 sets with Summer Ibbott, Ella Lewis and Kiera Buerckner all winning 3 sets.
Tadhg Foran for Saville was their best to win his 3 sets whilst his teammates Anthony Niuewenhout and Max Loughnan won 2 sets.
In the other match De Minaur played Tomljanovic. There were some very close matches in this rubber with De Minaur won 8 sets to 4. Best for De Minaur was Maisee Pell with 3 wins and Isabel Hargreaves and fill-in Kendall Connell with 2 victories.
For Tomljanovic Ian Dimble won all of his matches.
The final ladder is De Minaur 30, Kyrgios 28, Tomljanovic 21 and Saville 17.
Well done to all players who participated. De Minaur’s team of Maisee Pell, Lucy Judd, Isabel Hargreaves, Xav Chessells, James Cummins and Liam Mansfield are crowned the winning team.
Runners up is Kyrgios consisting of Lara Angwin, Ella Lewis, Kiera Buerckner, Jordan Ibbott, Darcy Cox and Thomas Lawrence.
A presentation will be held at the commencement of junior tennis on Saturday morning.
Wilby Tennis Association
Round 7 of the Wilby Tennis Association was played over the weekend. With perfect conditions for tennis it was nice to have all four matches being played.
The competition continues to promote juniors hitting with seniors and this only bodes well for the longevity of the association.
On Friday night, Savernake made the long journey out to play Tungamah Gold. A fantastic evening was had with some strong tennis.
In the mens division Savernake proved too strong winning each of the six sets with Jayden Arnold, Jeremey Kelly, Aaron Munn and Cam Arthur all undefeated.
In the ladies, it was much more even with the sets split 3 all before Tungamah won by a single game 26-25. Deb Hayes was best on court winning 3 matches whilst for Savernake Norma Toms, Stacie Arnold and Angelique Bruce won 2 sets.
The mixed sets were all very close with Savernake winning 3 sets to 1. Savernake victors on games on the night and claiming 6 points to 2.
The second match of Friday evening was the top of the table clash between Telford and Mulwala Gold. The contest lived up to expectations with some outstanding tennis.
Mulwala won the mens division 4 sets to 2 with reigning Most Valuable Player, Andrew Banks winning 3 sets and his teammates Andrew Brew and Brett Lawrence claiming 2.
Best for Mulwala was Jason Cox with 2 sets. In the ladies the scores were reversed with Mulwala Gold winning 4 sets. Young gun Emily Linehan won all of her sets for Mulwala and Jess Linehan and Beth Robinson had 2 wins.
Win Win Htwe won 2 sets for Telford.
The mixed continued the evenness of the night with 2 sets all before a countback revealed Telford won by a game. Mulwala Gold won the most games of the night 60 to 59.
The teams sharing the points 4 each. Maybe a preview of the Grand Final.
The final Friday night game saw Mulwala Maroon host Burramine. The night was filled with a lot of laughter and everyone enjoyed the evening.
On the court Burramine were too strong in the ladies to win 6 sets with Tess Bassett, Kirsty Skene, Loz Wallace and debutant Olivia Lewis winning all of their matches.
Burramine repeated the result in the mens with Jamie Hicks, Mick Ibbott, John Wright and James Loughnan claiming 3 sets.
Mulwala were unlucky in a few sets and with a few novice players, look to them to be the big improvers during the season. Overall for the night Burramine took the 8 points.
Wilby hosted Tungamah Green at Wilby and it was fantastic to 5 juniors on the courts. The mens division was even with each team winning 3 sets with Wilby winning by 6 games. Youngster Xav Chessells was player of the day winning all his sets for Wilby.
Word is he might have claimed a 6/0 win over his father Gary playing for Tungamah. Tungamah’s ladies proved too consistent and won all 6 sets with Jenny Buerckner, Shannon Doyle, Renee Wren and Rachelle Prosser undefeated.
The mixed sets were split 2 apiece with Tungamah winning by 2 games. Tungamah Green taking 6 points to Wilby’s 2.
The ladder after Round 7 is Telford 36, Mulwala Gold 34, Burramine 34, Tungamah Green 32, Tungamah Gold 26, Savernake 24, Mulwala Maroon 22 and Wilby 16.
Thursday Ladies
The Thursday ladies were back on court for round 2 of their competition. Matches were very enjoyable, and the tennis was of a high standard. The mix of juniors and senior players ensure that everyone has a good night.
In the first match of the evening Swifts were far too swift for the Giants and they won all 6 sets although there were some close sets. Ellen Bruce, Kirsty Skene, Emily Linehan and Lisa Ramadge each is fine form.
The Thunderbirds and the Firebirds had some good hitting before the Thunderbirds won 4 sets to 2.
Kylie James was best on court winning 3 sets whilst teammates Sandra Heaney and Scarlett York won 2 sets. Best for Firebirds was Dominique Vattan with 2 wins.
Fever had a night out against Magpies winning all the sets. Combining to win 3 sets each were Win Win Htwe, Jess Linehan, Chris Hawkins and youngster Lara Angwin.
Lightning and Vixens had the closest match of the night with Vixens winning 4 sets to 2 although the difference in games was very close.
Michelle Cox was the player of the court with 3 wins whilst Beth Robinson and Maddy Allan had 2 wins. Vixens best was Kim Sneddon who had 2 victories.
After round 3 the ladder is Fever 19, Swifts 16, Lightning 15, Thunder 13, Firebirds 12, Vixens 8, Magpies 6 and Giants 5.
Tuesday Mens
The Tuesday Mens competition resumed after a week of sandbagging duties. With a few regular players away, the fill-in list was used well and thank you to the players who helped to ensure an enjoyable night of tennis.
The first match of the night had incredibly close matches with three tiebreakers before Head snuck away to win 4 sets to 2.
Xav Dowling played very well to win 3 sets whilst Corey Beggs and Neville Page won 2 sets for the victors.
Wilson and Yonnex played one of the longest matches in Tuesday history with the final match played in darkness.
Wilson won 5 sets to 1 but this didn’t reflect the tight matches. For Wilson Al Angwin and Jim Zanin both won 3 sets and Mike Lairson and Warrick Cox 2 matches.
The closest match of the night was between Duns and Babolat with the sets split 3 apiece and Duns winning by 2 games.
President Daryl Bennett was best on court winning all his matches for Babolat whilst for Duns Rob Zubin and Ian Dimble both had 2 wins.
Lacoste’s team clearly have hit the practice courts this week as they had a strong 5-1 win over Slazenger.
For the victors Peter Hollands and Pat Mansfield won all their sets and Rob Evers and Mick Ibbott claimed 2 sets.
Prokennex also had a 5 sets to 1 win over Prince and have established themselves as potential finalist.
For the victors, Jack Bassett and Matt McLachlan were undefeated and Kieran Kelly and Sam Davidson dropped one set.
The final match of the night was another tight battle with Tecnifibre winning 4 sets to 2 over Volkl.
Jason Cox led the way with 3 wins and teammates Jason Bassett and Trent Head both winning 2 sets.
After round 3 the ladder is Head 13, Wilson 13, Tecnifibre 13, Duns 10, Volkl 9, Lacoste 9, Prokennex 9, Prince 7, Babolat 4, Slazenger 4, Donnay 3 and Yonex 2.
Goulburn Murray Tennis Association
Yarrawonga’s contingent of players competing in the Goulburn Murray Association all had successful weekends.
In Division 1, playing for Numurkah Jack Bassett easily won his singles, doubles and mixed as his team had a great day winning 12 sets to 0 against neighbouring Nathalia.
In Division 2 for Numurkah they defeated Kyabram 11 sets to 1 with Yarrawonga’s Grant Chappell, Lucy Bassett and Tess Bassett each recording 3 victories on the day.
Daryl and Jenelle Bennett representing Cobram also won easily against Shepparton with them both undefeated. It is terrific that the club’s strongest players have the chance to play Saturday afternoon tennis in a this competition.
Wednesday Social Fast Four
In glorious conditions 16 teams had an absolute ball on Wednesday night. It is great to see so many new people at the tennis club. It is also fantastic to see a team of kids battling it out against adults.
Probably the highlight of the night was the Angwin and Lewis Mums taking on their kids in doubles. Word is the youngsters just got over the line.
On the show court current Club Champion Sarah Govan challenged star Yarrawonga footballer Jacob Adkins. The contest was extremely one sided with Govan being forced to serve at a reduced speed just to allow Adkins to be part of the point.
This will be the final week of the November Fast Four competition. Thanks to all the players for making this a success and especially the captains who have organised their teams wonderfully.
This competition will be held again in February and it is hoped that once again this will be very popular.
Yarrawonga Chronicle