LOCAL TENNIS with Donna Schoenmaekers
It was a fantastic return to Saturday tennis this week with more than 1200 players taking to the courts for the opening round of Junior and Senior Summer Pennants.
There were many highlights and expectations going into the day, with a number of top end senior players returning to competition after hiatus.
Newcomers Meredith joined the Junior competition, Geelong West in the Seniors, the introduction of new Premier grades in juniors and the acid test for the Open format that kicked off last season and has grown.
Things have not just started for players on the court, Charlie Hair and Andy O’Donnell, both from Highton, have been selected to participate at the 2024 AO as ball kids and training started at the National Tennis Centre this Sunday. Both boys were part of the 2023 AO and are looking forward to being at this summer’s event.
Meredith has entered four teams this season for its younger juniors, with two Orange Ball teams beginning on October 21, a Boys team in section 12 and Girls section 6 team.
The boys had a great first week with a 6-0 win over neighbours Lethbridge while the girls had a much closer result getting over the line by just three games over Geelong Lawn.
Geelong West also had a great start to the season with a 3-1 win over Ocean Grove. Josh McPhee and Adam Lasky are making a return to Geelong competition while Zoe Palistow is making her Tennis Geelong debut alongside Jai Bosnjak, James Brushfield and Bianca Duff.
With the depth in the team and the talent in the balance of Section 1 Open, Geelong West has plenty of competition, but should prove to be contenders come finals time.
This season sees the debut of a new format for the top end of juniors, consisting of two singles rubbers and an eight-game doubles rubber, with a minimum UTR requirement and the reduced number of players required for each team. The aim is to provide players with more competitive play and better opportunity to stay at their own clubs.
Six teams make up Premier A with two from Grovedale, two from Ocean Grove, Moriac and Geelong Lawn. Winners for this week were Grovedale Black, Moriac and Ocean Grove Sand, but with most players also playing in the Senior competition it will be interesting to see how the players cope with extra play.
Premier B is also made up of six teams from Geelong Lawn, Grovedale, Ocean Grove, Lara and two from Wandana Heights. All three matches this week were close and decided two rubbers to one with the biggest margin being eight games.
While there is a long way to go, this section looks like it will be one to watch.
