Local Tennis by Tyler Krumholz
The Tennis Geelong triples night competition spring season was the first competition out of the blocks for the season in Geelong, with matches across the region last Thursday.
The Night Owls and Grovedale staked their early claims as grand final favourites in Section 1 with 6-0 36-23 and 6-0 36-15 wins over Portarlington and the Wallabies, respectively.
The Night Owls, from Highton Tennis Club, won the triples Section 1 summer season earlier this year, but could be facing a tough challenge from a Grovedale side featuring Grant Thompson, Jared Bromley, and Dave Meehan from Tennis Geelong’s reigning Saturday mixed Section 1 premiers.
Last season’s Section 2 premiers, the Flying Dankanators from Surfcoast Tennis Club, faced the toughest matchup of round 1 with a tight 3-3 25-23 win over Leopold.
Matt Young from Leopold won his singles match 6-0 to try to bring back Leopold in the last sets, but Surfcoast’s pair of Matthew Roche and Jackson Donnan also won 6-0 to fend off the comeback.
Grovedale’s Section 2 team had an opening round win, 4-2 32-23 over All Saints White, led by three wins from youngster Josh Scott.
Section 3 could be wide-open if the first round is any indication, with Beers winning 4-2 28-24 over the Cockatoos, and All Saints Red nudging Grovedale, 4-2 29-26.
Elaine Ly held her nerve for All Saints, winning all three of her sets, two of which ended in tiebreakers.
Riatta Bobcats followed up its summer season Section 4 premiership with an ominous win to start its spring Section 4 campaign, 6-0 36-10 over the Kangaroos.
Team captain James Hayes only lost three games in his three sets to set the tone.
The team will have competition though, as the Grovey Invaders had a 6-0 36-17 win over the Dagwood Dogs.
Cocobewares won a tight battle over the summer Section 3 runner-up Zing Kings, 3-3 28-23.
Section 5 saw two lopsided wins. The Highton Flyers won 6-0 36-7 over the Echidnas, with Erin Wilkinson only dropping three games.
The Jazza Gals had a similarly impressive 6-0 36-9 victory over the Three Amigos.
Tennis Geelong triples is the only association tennis competition in Victoria to allow non-club member teams to participate.
To find out more, check out the Tennis Geelong website.
