LOCAL TENNIS with Chris Higgins
Local tennis on Saturday afternoon, having reached the halfway point of the winter season was, for the vast majority of teams, an opportunity for the defeated teams from round 1 to seek redemption in the round 8 rematch.
In Section 2 Mixed, Hamlyn Park (2nd on the ladder) at home was able to turn the narrowest of losses from round 1 into a handy five sets to one win against Lara (5th).
In the first mixed set Lara’s Briane Doolan and Rob Dando triumphed over Hamlyn Parks Eleyne Atkinson and Steve Peretin 6-4, whilst in the 2nd mixed set, the home team struck back with Kerrie Fatone and David Wiedmann winning 6-3 over Lara’s Wendy Caddy and Charlie Dando. The ladies and men’s sets were both 6-3 wins to Hamlyn Park’s combination of Tiffany Gray and Kerry Fatone, and Steve Peretin and Nash Moed.
In the final two mixed sets, the Hamlyn Park teams continued the trend with 6-3 wins in both sets against their Lara opponents, to seal a comfortable win.
In the second match of Section 2 Mixed, Newcomb (6th on the ladder) repeated their round 1 result with a four sets to two win over Moolap Gold (3rd). Kacie Higgins and Marc Patrick started off the match well for Newcomb with a 6-3 win over Amy Lizmore and Darcy King.
In the 2nd mixed Moolap’s Amy Kuskunovic and Liam Thompson outlasted Newcomb’s Alison Steele and Allan Fairchild to come away with the 7-5 win. 6-4 wins to Newcomb in both the ladies and men’s doubles put them in a strong position coming into the final two sets with Dwayne Thompson coming in to replace his brother Liam in the men’s. The final two mixed sets were split with each team winning one each 6-2.
The third match saw Western Heights Uniting (7th looking to reverse their defeat to Moolap Black (4th) from round 1. The match was played at Moolap’s alternative location, Geelong West Tennis Club, due to the overflow of teams at Moolap’s usual home courts.
Rebecca Reinert and Cameron Dempster got Moolap off to a great start with a 6-2 win over Annabel King and Matthew Evans. In the second mixed with Moolap’s Julia Augello and Rob Allsopp leading 2-1 against Western Heights Livinia Ryan and Stuart Evans, the set was interrupted due to an injury to the Western Heights team.
Fortunately a replacement player in Jeanette Dean was available and able to try to help get her team over the line. The ladies and men’s doubles sets resulted in 6-3 and 6-1 wins to Moolap, with the final two reverse mixed sets also wins to Moolap 6-4 and 6-2. Overall a comfortable six sets to love win to Moolap.
The final match pitted top of the ladder Grovedale playing away at Drysdale (8th) and while Grovedale proved victorious five sets to one, the match was an improvement for the Drysdale team compared to the round 1 meeting. Ella Hill and Riley Robertson started the day off with a 6-4 win for Grovedale against Rachel Shanks and Darren Humphrey.
In the second mixed, Grovedale’s Ebony Paull and Bernard Attard were comfortable 6-0 winners against Sophie Harris and Tim Craven. The ladies and men’s sets were both dominant 6-1 wins for Grovedale. Sophie Harris and Darren Humphrey were the shining lights for Drysdale in their 6-2 win with the final mixed set a 6-0 win to Grovedale.
