LOCAL TENNIS with Donna Schoenmaekers
Upsets and close misses dominated Tennis Geelong Junior Pennant finals, with eight of the 11 matches won by the team in fourth spot.
Grovedale Black went down to Ocean Grove 1 Boys five sets to one, however, with Denzil Ludowyk and Rafael Berra getting through in tie-breaks, things could have been much closer.
Surfcoast Torquay felt the same pain in their Green Ball 2 encounter with Geelong Lawn. Torquay fell on the wrong side of three tie-breaks, with Grace Scholes and Victoria Nobile Grisolla succeeding the singles for Lawn, before teaming up in the doubles and doing the same.
Western Heights Uniting suffered a similar fate in 2 Boys, going down two to four and only three games to Surfcoast Jan Juc. Liam Packett managed a tie-break win over Evie Ryan in the first singles while Coen and Boah Reid managed the same in the first doubles to put Juc over the line after winning the third and fourth singles.
Bannockburn faced Wandana Heights for the second week in a row in 6 Boys, but took their first win against them when it counted, getting up 4-2. Wandana’s Premier team also went down to Grovedale Yellow. This was the first time the teams had met this season, so it was anyone’s guess how the match would play out, but Yellow were victorious two rubbers to one at the end of the morning.
Lara also dashed Wandana’s hopes in Green Ball 3. The first two singles were 6-3, one each per team, and the doubles split and both 6-2, so the difference was the wins by Mitchell Raggatt and Kaylene Van Wyk in the third and fourth singles.
1 Girls was the bright spot for Wandana when they bested Ocean Grove. Again the match could have been different with each team winning a tie-break in the singles, but Wandana won three of the four, before each team won a doubles, leaving Wandana to face minor premiers Barwon Heads next week.
Ocean Grove had a tight tussle with the Heads in 5 Boys, with the teams tied at two sets all after the singles and the Grove ahead by just three games. Ocean Grove’s doubles prowess showed through, however, with Harry Gibson and Oke Willis winning the first 6-2 and Samuel Johnston and Jed Verlander sealing the win taking the second 6-4.
Barwon Heads fared better in 4 Girls with a 4-2 over Grovedale. Sasha Guest won her two sets for the Heads to help the team to the win, despite Aria Young winning her two sets for Grovedale.
Grovedale had a better day in 4 Boys, in their battle with Geelong Lawn. The teams were only separated by percentage on the ladder, but despite Lawn putting up a solid fight, Grovedale prevailed.
The closest match for the day went to Geelong Lawn and Clifton Springs White in 3 Girls, where three sets went to tie-breaks and the final result was just one game. The visiting Springs took a 3-1 lead in the singles with just a four game buffer, but Lawn shone in the doubles with Lucy Robertson and Eva Katzer winning the first 6-2, meaning the winner of the second was the winner of the match. The set went down to the wire with Priya Antony and Charlotte White eventual winners for Lawn in a tie-break.
