Two local teens have won at the Geelong JT Silver tournament, with another four making the finals of their age divisions.
Geelong Lawn players Teal Studer and Rupert Sever triumphed in the under 12 and under 14 divisions respectfully on their home court in Belmont.
Sever overcame fellow Geelong Lawn player Liam Polizzi in the final, while club mates Kirrily McConachy and Saxon Richardson came runner up in the under 16 girls and boys.
McConachy went down in a thrilling third set super tiebreak, as did Wandana Heights Tennis Club’s Minami Tan in the under 14s final.
“All of the girls’ matches were very close,” Geelong Lawn Tennis Club member John McConachy said.
“The finals were fantastic to watch with most of them finishing in a dramatic sudden-death super tiebreak.
“Five of the finalists from Geelong are members of Geelong Lawn Tennis Club, which reflects our efforts to support local junior talent.
“It also underlines the positive direction junior tennis has in Geelong and would strongly suggest a bright future awaits many of the current crop of juniors.”
The Geelong JT Silver tournament began last Friday and concluded on Australia Day.
The event attracts many of Victoria’s top under 12 to under 16 junior players.
“Geelong Lawn Tennis Club has hosted the event for many years now and it’s always one of the first major junior tournaments of the calendar year,” McConachy said.
“Tennis Australia had suspended all ranking tournaments up until the end of December, owing to COVID concerns, so everybody was chomping at the bit to get underway.
“We had wonderful weather right throughout the tournament, with only some hot weather on day four suspending play for part of the afternoon and a slightly delayed start on the fifth day, astonishingly, due to wet weather overnight.”
The event is normally classed as ‘gold’ but due to COVID-19 Tennis Australia downgraded all gold tournaments to ‘silver’.
Doubles results available at tournaments.tennis.com.au
