Sport

ITF Event to hit town

By Yarra Editor

Nov 19, 2025

Annabelle Buerckner in action during Saturday morning tennis.

Yarrawonga will host the ITF Victorian Seniors Grass Court Championships from Friday November 21 to Monday November 24.

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This is an International Tennis Federation sanctioned event and will see around 250 players descend on Yarrawonga’s courts. There will be many international players with some very highly ranked in their respective age groups.

All competitors have to be 30 years or older with the oldest singles group 85 plus. Yarrawonga’s legends Ellen Bruce and John Brunner will be participating across many different events and are both tipped to perform well. Spectators are encouraged to attend and watch some high-class tennis.

Saturday Juniors

On Saturday it was the first round of the very popular Premier League.

This is a three-week competition with four sides of the older Saturday morning players. Each player competes in two sets of doubles and a set of singles.

In the first match Kangaroos and Tigers had a fantastic battle which went right down to the wire before Kangaroos won 14 sets to 12.

For the Kangaroos Ernie Buerckner and Tristan Meredith won all of their sets and for the Tigers Sophia Connell was undefeated.

In the other match Eagles were a little too strong for the Bombers claiming the morning 17 sets to eight.

Eagles players Jack Carmichael, Jimmy Robinson, Jack Bruce and Abel Stilos were in great form winning all of their matches whilst for the Bombers Thomas Lawrence was a standout not dropping a set.

After Round 1 the ladder is Eagles 21, Kangaroos 18, Tigers 12 and Bombers 8. This week the Eagles will play the Tigers, and the Kangaroos will face off against the Bombers.

The younger match players completed round robins and there were some good rallies in these matches. Group winners were Sam Hicks, Reggie Jones and Olive Cummins.

The Hot Shots and Coaching groups continue to enjoy their development. It is amazing to see the improvement in these younger players each week.

This week we welcomed experienced Melbourne coach Grant Kendall to oversee the program. His enthusiasm was tremendous, and he is looking forward to attending many more Saturday mornings.

Wilby and District

Round Five of the Wilby and District Tennis was played in glorious conditions on the weekend. There were a lot of good hitting during the matches. Unfortunately, due to other commitments Mulwala couldn’t secure a side, so Tungamah was victorious.

On Friday night Burramine and Telford battled it out on grass. It was a little bit of a bizarre contest with Telford’s men easily accounting for Burramine winning all six sets.

Andrew Brew, Andrew Banks, Jim Zanin and Pat Mansfield were all in great form. In the ladies the scoreline was reversed with Burramine dominant. Tess Bassett, Hayley Bennett, Kirsty Skene and Olivia Lewis all playing very well. In the mixed Telford won three of the four mixed to win on games by nine and take the night six points to two.

Savernake made the trek south to play Wilby on Saturday afternoon with may close sets played. Savernake just won the men’s section four sets to two.

It was great to see so many youngsters in this section. The ladies produced the same scoreline with Savernake winning four sets to two once again.

The mixed was extremely close with each team winning two sets with Savernake sneaking home by two games. Overall Savernake won by 17 games to take the 8 points.

After Round 4 the ladder is Tungamah 33, Savernake 30, Telford 29, Burramine 14, Wilby 8, Mulwala 6.

This week on Friday night Tungamah host Burramine and Wilby will visit Telford. On Saturday Telford will make the trek out to Savernake.

Tuesday Men’s Tennis

After a long preseason the Tuesday Men’s competition commenced. The windy conditions made it difficult at times.

Most importantly there was a lot of banter on the courts. The night finished with a debriefing over pizza and refreshments with all in attendance leaving in good spirits.

In the first game of the night Laver and Nadal had some good rallies with Laver winning four sets to two. Corey Beggs has clearly hit a lot of balls over the offseason and was in great form to win all of his matches.

Lendl and Djokovic had four tiebreakers in their six sets. Lendl were able to win most of these to win the night five sets to one. John Brunner and Arron Robinson combined well to win all of their matches.

The score was similar between Borg and Wilander and this rubber finished in darkness with Borg claiming the five sets. Robin Zubin and Brendan Lawrence best for the victors.

Connors and Federer had a good battle with quite a few new players with Connors winning four sets to two. Club President Pat Mansfield was in scintillating form to be undefeated.

Becker and Sampras had the same scoreline with Becker winning four sets. New player Phil Cairns displayed his talent winning all of his sets.

In the final match of the night Agassi had a four sets to two win over Edberg. Simon De Oleveira was in career best form to be undefeated.

The ladder after the first round is Borg 7, Lendl 7, Becker 6, Connors 6, Laver 6, Agassi 6, McEnroe 4, Edberg 2, Nadal 2, Federer 2, Sampras 2, Djokovic 1, Wilander 1.

Thursday Ladies Tennis

The Thursday Ladies played Round 4 of their season last week in great conditions after a fair bit of wind earlier in the afternoon. The standard of the tennis continues to be high.

Thanks to the fill-ins that play each week to ensure everyone gets a hit. Most of the matches were very close ensuring the night was finished in near darkness.

Weeties had a good battle with Cheerios before they won the last two sets of the night to win four sets to two. Former Club Champion Sarah Govan was in great form winning all of her sets.

Top team Rice Bubbles continued their strong form winning four sets to two against Fruit Loops. Alice Cooper was best on court not dropping a set for the night.

Coco Pops had a similar scoreline against Fruity Bites with four sets to two win. Once again Nat Linehan won all of her sets showing her fantastic recent form.

Cornflakes and Just Rights had a fantastic battle with each team finishing three sets all with Cornflakes taking the points by winning by three games 29 to 26. None of the players won all of their matches.

Nutri Grains and Special Ks also had a very tight tussle with the sets shared three all. Nutri Grains finishing on top by six games 32 to 26 with no ladies winning all three sets.

The ladder after Round 4 is Rice Bubbles 26, Coco Pops 20, Weeties 17, Fruit Loops 16, Cheerios 15, Nutri Grains 15, Cornflakes 15, Fruity Bites 14, Special Ks 14, and Just Rights 8.

Goulburn Murray Tennis

The Goulburn Murray Tennis Association continued throughout the north-east of Victoria on the weekend. This competition is fantastic as it allows players to compete against people from other clubs.

Yarrawonga’s Divisions three team travelled to take on the highly fancied Euroa team. Yarrawonga’s team played very well.

During the day there were four tiebreakers with Euroa able to secure three wins. The men consisting of Xavier Chessells, Thomas Lawrence and Noel Thomas battled hard but couldn’t quite sneak a win.

Returning to the squad Renee Byrne had two wins with for the afternoon. One each with Angela Mitchell and Danielle Lawrence. Thomas Lawrence and Danielle Lawrence won their mixed. Overall Euroa won 7 sets to 3 but only winning on games by 15 indicating how close the contest was.

Numurkah’s Division 1 team hosted Tatura in a very close rubber. At the end of the day Numurkah won seven sets to five although they did win comfortably on games.

Returning from a spell Jack Bassett won both his singles and doubles quite easily. Tess Bassett secured victories in the doubles and mixed doubles with a narrow loss in her singles.

The Division 2 Numurkah team also played at home against Euroa. Euroa were an extremely powerful combination proving too strong winning 10 sets to one. Hayley Bennett had several close sets but couldn’t sneak a win.