Teams are now in the back half of the season for Tennis Geelong’s Winter Pennant and ladders are taking shape in the lead up to finals.
In Section 1 Open, the top five now seem to be set, but ladder positions are still undecided, as teams jostle to make it into the four and stay there.
It was 1st vs 4th when Barwon Heads hosted Ocean Grove in the Battle of the Bridge with the Heads wanting to stay on top and Grove in the four.
While Barwon Heads won the round 2 encounter three rubbers to one, with only eight games separating the teams, Ocean Grove were hoping for things to go their way this week. Laurenz Watters opened the Grove’s account with a 6-2, 7-5 win in the singles while Toby Mitchell and Travis Toner countered for the Heads in the doubles 6-2, 6-2.
Mitchell backed up in the second singles 6-4, 6-1, which left the match in the balance in the second doubles. Watters teamed with Jarryd Procter against Toner and Greg Luke in what would prove to be a marathon event. Each pair had its chances in both sets, but the Heads duo prevailed 7-6, 7-6 to produce a result one-game different to the first encounter.
Highton Blue pushed themselves into second with their demolition of club counterparts Highton Gold. The team of Brian Spong, Julius Busch and Dane Gerisher, were too strong, dropping only 17 games across eight sets, also giving them a good percentage boost which may be important come the end of the season.
The battle of 2nd vs 5th saw Moolap host Surfcoast Torquay and expectations were high for both teams with their round two encounter tied on rubbers and sets and only a six-game advantage to Moolap. Team lineups were different for this match up, however, and only time would tell what part that would play.
Michael Hili made light work of his singles for Torquay winning 6-1, 6-1, while teammates Ryan Costello and Sam Rogers consolidated the lead winning 6-3, 6-4.
Moolap’s Lachy Edgar backed up his round 2 win over Lachie Hindle winning 6-1, 6-2 leaving Moolap needing to win the final rubber to send it to a countback. Costello and Rogers had other ideas, however, and pushed through in a tight 6-4, 7-6 win to give Surfcoast the win three rubbers to one and moved into the four.
The final match of the day, while not affecting finals position, was possibly the most engaging. Wandana Heights hosted Waurn Ponds and were hoping to improve on their round 2 performance where, despite two rubbers decided in super tie-breaks, the Ponds took a 4-0 win. As it happened, Wandana did improve the result, with the singles proving to be marathons.
Things were close in the first doubles with Alric Wong and Brett Salajan putting Wandana on the board with their 6-4, 7-6 win. Max Gear and Mitchell Field fought tooth and nail in their singles with Field winning the first set 6-1 before Gear fought back to take the second 7-5. The rubber was taken to a super tie-break, with Gear finally prevailing 16-14 for Wandana.
Field teamed Ben Rankin for the second doubles and avenged the singles loss winning 6-0, 6-4 over Gear and Salajan while Wong and Mikaela Mullen battled to a first set tie-break in the singles, which was eventually won by Wong.
Mullen came back hard in the second set winning 6-1 before finishing off with a 10-5 win in the super. The final result was a tie on rubbers and sets, but the Ponds had an eight-game advantage to give them the win.
Ladder positions at the end of round 9 are Barwon Heads 110, Highton Blue 98, Moolap 89, Surfcoast Torquay 88, Ocean Grove 82. There are five rounds still to play with each team having three matches against teams in the five, so teams will want to be playing well to ensure they make the finals.
