Inspired by the stars of the Australian Open, the courts were filled with excited children on Saturday morning. It is evident that many have been practising over the holiday break as club coach Greg Duns and his junior coaching staff could not believe the improvement of the players.
The Hot Shots kids enjoyed a range of games with the highlight being the involvement of the parents in the program. The coaching groups continue to demonstrate enthusiasm with the remainder of the season set to have a focus on preparing for match play.
The juniors that took part in match play had some extremely long rallies with a noticeable improvement in volleying.
The group winners of singles were Tess Bassett, Taylah Bigger, Xavier Chessells, Lachie Wren with and in the final group there was a three-way tie between Anthony Niuewenhout, Noah Cox and Liam Mansfield.
The doubles group winners were Ella Lewis, Jackson Prosser, Summer Ibbott, Lucy Judd, Milla Kelly, Grace Cummins and Poppy Cooper.
This Sunday the annual Godfathers Junior Tournament is on. This tournament is a great introduction to tournament tennis as it has both A and B divisions ensuring a level for all players.
Age groups are 8/U, 10/U, 12/U, 14/U and 16/U. It is hoped most of the regular Saturday morning players will enter.
Junior Club Championships will be held on Saturday, February 19. All Club Championship matches are singles and players will be entered in two different age groups.
Social Tennis is a hit
Wednesday night social tennis commenced on Wednesday night and again was a sensation.
The Yarrawonga Tennis Club is ecstatic to have 17 teams again participating. This is a new competition with the emphasis on trying to get new or retuning faces back to the club.
The format of the evening was Fast Four with all players in teams. Each player undertook 4 sets of doubles. Scores were recorded but solely for the purpose of trying to match teams evenly into the future.
There were many highlights on the night but probably the favourite was Zoe Jones taking on her father Craig O’Callaghan.
Craig’s cunning tested Zoe but her fitness prevailed and has been rumoured that Craig has taken many days to recover his return to the court.
This Wednesday night will be another night of fun and laughter. There is still room for more teams if anyone is interested.
Thursday Ladies Tennis
After an extended break the Thursday night ladies competition resumed last week. The ladies were very happy to be back on court.
With a few injuries and a couple isolating the organisers hastily made some adjustments to ensure everyone had a hit.
Smarties had a 4 sets to 2 win over Freckles. Jess Linehan was the player of the night winning all 3 of her sets whilst Brooke Thompson and Sarah Govan won 2 sets.
Best player for Freckles was youngster and big improver Tess Bassett who 2 sets.
Jelly Beans and Jaffas had the same result with Jelly Beans the winners of the 4 sets. Jelly Beans’ Kim Sneddon replicated Ash Barty’s form in winning all of her matches and Erin York and Chris Hawkins claimed 2 wins. For Jaffas Kirsty Skene was their best with 2 wins.
To round out the night the final match also had a 4 sets to 2 result with Starburst defeating Sherbies. Thursday night debutant Rach Ewert won all her matches for Starburst indicating she is going to be a player to look out for.
Supporting her were Lucy Bassett and Loz Wallace with 2 victories. Amy Lairson was the star for Sherbies with a pair of wins.
Tuesday Mens Tennis
Round 9 of Tuesday night had some fantastic tennis and some very close results. Four of the six matches resulted in each team winning three sets which is testimony to competition organiser Ash Wheaton creating evenly matched teams.
This week will be the ratings shootout where the players are grouped in similar abilities and bragging rights are up for grabs. This is always a fun night.
Wawrinka indicated they are going to be a team to watch with 5 sets to 1 win over Korda. In a show of solidarity after some recent tension Tom McKimmie and Jason Cox dominated the night winning all of their sets.
They were ably supported by Andrew Banks and Trent Head with a pair of wins. The sole set one by Korda went to Tim O’Dwyer and Troy Seddon.
Nadal and Johansson played in one of the matches of the night with great tennis and a tie with 3 sets apiece. Nadal got over the line by a single game 29-28.
Fill-in Matt Leadingham and Andrew Brew claimed 2 sets for Nadal and fill-ins Grant Lewis and Jason Bassett had 2 wins for Johannson.
Courier and Wilander has an almost identical result to the Nadal/Johannson rubber with 3 sets each at the end of the night. Wilander were declared the winners 28 to 26.
Best for Wilander with 2 wins were Mark Mills and the returning Tim Clarke who has come off the long-term injury list. For Courier Ash Wheaton and Glenn Butler returning for his first hit of the season also won 2 matches.
Sampras and Federer also had a 3 set all tie, although Sampras won 33 to 26 on the back of some 6-1 set wins. Player of the night was Neville Page who won all 3 matches and with this form it will look like his predecessor Andrew Freeman may not be needed again this season. For Federer Pete Thomas, Simon De Oleveira and fill-in Amy Lairson each won 2 sets.
Completing the quadrella of 3 sets all ties Safin and Agassi had a great battle with Agassi winning on games 24-21. Agassi’s John Brunner dominated the court winning all 3 of his matches. Safin’s Matt McLachlan, Brad Mouat and James Loughnan won 2 sets each.
Djokovic flexed their muscle and gave Becker a tennis lesson winning 6 sets to 0.
Maybe Djokovic’s namesake’s removal from the Australian Open was used as motivation. For Djokovic, fill-in Noel Skehan and regular players Lee Fraser, Pat Mansfield and Corey Beggs all won their 3 sets.
The ladder after Round 9 is Agassi 50, Lendl 46, Djokovic 46, Wilander 45, Sampras 39, Nadal 38, Wawrinka 38, Safin 36, Korda 34, Federer 33, Johansson 26, Courier 25, Becker 17.
Wilby Tennis Association
The Wilby Tennis Association resumed after a long break and a washout last weekend. It was great to see this competition back as it is a terrific competition and allows a range of players a hit in a very social environment.
Burramine hosted Mulwala Green and great fun was had. Burramine proved too strong in the men’s section claiming 5 sets to 1 with John Wright and Jason Bassett winning 3 sets.
For Mulwala Dennis Phibbs and Rocky Leith claimed a victory.
In the ladies Burramine won all 6 sets although there were many close sets. Burramine’s Kirsty Skene, Tess Bassett, Loz Wallace and Narelle Bassett each won all of their sets.
In the mixed Burramine won 3 sets to 1 with Rocky Leith and Janis McMillan winning the set for Mulwala. Overall Burramine victors 8 points to 0.
Telford also hosted Mulwala Gold in a Friday night double header. In the men’s division there were some very intense battles with the sets shared 3 all although Telford won the most games. Mulwala’s Sean Robinson was best on court winning all his matches whilst for Telford Andrew Banks, Stuart Bond and John Schneider won 2 sets.
In the ladies the experienced Telford team won 5 sets to 1 with Kura Fraser and Margaret Boreham winning all of their sets whilst Mulwala’s Jess Linehan combined with Beth Robinson to win their set. Telford finished the mixed with 4 wins.
Mulwala had two debutants in Maisee Pell and Taylah Bigger who both demonstrated they will be stars of the future. Overall Telford won 8 points to 0.
Savernake made the long trek south to play Tungamah Gold. The men’s division had a great battle with each team winning 3 sets before Tungamah Gold taking the chocolates by 6 games. Best for the men was Tungamah’s Liam Williams who won all of his matches whilst Savernake’s Jayden Arnold, Andrew Garrott and Chantelle Gorman won 2 sets.
In the ladies section the perennial strong Tungamah foursome of Chelsea Sidebottom, Mandy Williams, Debbie Hayes and Danielle Lawrence won all of their sets. Tungamah also won the mixed and in the spirit of the social nature of the association, it was great for youngsters Nate Dickins and Zade Ussher to be subbed in for a hit. Tungamah Gold won 8 points to 0.
On Saturday Wilby hosted Tungamah Green. In a very close day of tennis there were many very close sets played. In the men’s section Tungamah Green shared the sets 3 all with Wilby before a countback revealed a Tungamah win by a single game. Telford’s Craig Prescott was the best on court winning 3 sets. For Tungamah Josh Buerckner, Tom Wren and Luke Buerckner each won 2 sets.
The ladies section was won by Wilby 5 sets to 1 with Abbey Hammon and Trinity Hobson each having 3 wins whilst the Buerckner twins Jenny and Kylie Buerckner won the set for Tungamah. To finish the afternoon Tungamah won the mixed 3 sets to 1.
It was great to see Lachlan Wren, Lucy Judd and Elli Buerckner all debuting for Tungamah. The day was split 4 points each.
The ladder is extremely close and this indicates what a fantastic competition the Wilby Association is.
The ladder is Telford 42, Tungamah Gold 32, Savernake 30, Wilby 30, Tungamah Green 30, Burramine 30, Mulwala Maroon 15, Mulwala Gold 15.
At the start of the season rounds 8 to 10 were left floating. With three washouts this season to date, these rounds are replacing the final rounds. Captains have the copies of the updated fixture.
This week Mulwala Gold will host Tungamah Green, Telford will play Savernake, Wilby will battle Burramine and Mulwala Maroon will make the trek to play Tungamah Gold.
Goulburn Murray Tennis
Some of Yarrawonga’s better players continue to represent neighbour Numurkah in Goulburn Murray Tennis. On Saturday the Division 1 team took on Shepparton at Shepparton.
Grant Chappell won his doubles 8/6 and mixed 8/5. Jack Bassett won his doubles 8/3 and lost his first singles for the season 8/2.
After being promoted to Division 1, Lucy Bassett won her singles, doubles before losing her mixed doubles. She certainly indicated she wasn’t out of her depth.
Overall, the team won 9 sets to 3. At the completion of round 11 the team is in third place. The Division 2 team is in second place after having a bye on the weekend.
North East Veterans
The North East Veterans circuit continued on Sunday with a tournament in Benalla. Yarrawonga was well represented and all Yarrawonga players had a great day.
John Brunner and Ellen Bruce won their groups and Amy Lairson was runners up which were all excellent results. The next tournament is in Nathalia on February 27.