It was a cold start to Saturday’s Tennis Geelong Junior Pennant, but once the sun came up both the weather and competition warmed up.
Round 9 of Section 2 Boys saw a match up between ladder leads Western Heights Uniting and Highton Blue while Surfcoast Torquay and Geelong Lawn, equal on points, were looking to push ahead of the other and Ocean Grove and Highton White, still in contention for finals, only five points behind were hoping for the win to elevate their chances.
Surfcoast travelled to Highton to take on their White team, looking to emulate their round 4 win. Torquay started well, with Liam Packett, Jacob Furness and Tom Kemp winning three of the four singles and followed up with both doubles, winning 5-1, consolidating their place in third, and within seven points of first place. Liam Biro the sole set winner for Highton.
Ocean Grove and Geelong Lawn had their first match up for the season after their round 4 clash was washed out, but the teams were keen to see where they stood.
The doubles were split with Teddy McMahon and Isaac Alexander posting a 6-0 win for Lawn, while Sunny Bugeja and Yanni Azidis countered for Ocean Grove 6-3. McMahon and Alexander backed up, winning their singles 6-1, 6-4, as did Bugeja 7-5 for the Grove, but Tahnee Sanim won the fourth singles to put Lawn ahead four sets to two.
Highton Blue hosted Western Heights Uniting in the final match of the round and the Heights were looking to reverse their 4-2 loss in round 4 and increase their lead at the top of the ladder.
Louis Smith put the Heights on the board winning the first singles 6-3 while Heath Agustsson snuck over the line in a tie break for Highton. Highton continued their good run with Andre Ficca winning 6-2 while Ramsay Van Elst also won through in a tie-break.
In the doubles, Smith and Matthew Evans kept Western Heights in contention winning 6-1, but Ficca and Van Elst got Highton over line winning 6-3, for an overall 4-2 win, but by just one game.
Final wrap up for the day saw Western Heights’ lead narrowed to three points, and Surfcoast now within four of Highton Blue in second and seven points from first.
Ocean Grove and Highton White are still within reach of the four, so each week will be important to determine who finishes where.
