Tennis Geelong competition returned after the Christmas Break to Grovedale on Saturday in tight grudge matches.
The highlight was Section 1, with the mixed Gold and Black teams having a tough battle, with Black winning all three sets by two games.
Black’s ‘number two’ man Matt Squire took home the bragging rights over Jason Schoenmaekers by winning all three of his sets.
The familiarity of the players with each others’ individual styles was evident throughout the day with the quality and intensity of the points, and the length of time on court.
Zoe Duff and Hayden Fell (Gold) and Mimi Armstrong and Brent May (Black) kicked off the day with a very tight encounter.
The match was game-for-game to five-all.
Gold managed to break serve for the set however Black, to their credit, broke back to push the set to a tie-break, before Gold proved too good taking the breaker comfortably.
On the other court, Squire and Lisa Sherwell (Black) had a slow start dropping serve to go down 1-3 before rallying and getting the upper hand to go ahead 5-3.
Gold managed to hold serve to stay in the match, but Black then held serve to take the set 6-4.
The Duff sisters (Gold) showed what a good combination they are, taking an early lead in the ladies set before winning 6-3.
The men had a tight first four games before Black broke through and held the lead to take it 6-4.
At two sets all, and all other matches at Grovedale already complete, the final two mixed sets got underway.
Both matches were very tight with Lily Duff and Fell (Gold) going game-for-game with Sherwell and May (Black) to five-all before the Gold pair broke to take the set 7-5.
Squire continued his dominance in the final set taking an early break with Armstrong.
The set was not smooth sailing for Black however, with several breaks of serve before they took the set 6-3, ensuring the overall win for Black.
