Tennis returned to the Limestone Coast on Saturday with Southern Ports matches taking place in Penola, Lucindale, Robe and Beachport.
Both Robe teams took home wins, the Roosters happy to return the favour to Naracoorte after their Round 1 loss.
The Koalas also took the two points against the Wombats.
But the upset of the round was Beachport who had a comfortable win over the Frances/Lucindale Eagles – shaking up the ladder and sending a new team, the Robe Rebels, into the top two.
Beachport 18-149 d Frances/Lucindale Eagles 6-110
There were beautiful conditions at Beachport for tennis this week as Frances/Lucindale made the trek to the coast.
The Pirates started the day strong through the mixed doubles taking all six sets.
Cade Kelly and Shae Morrish had a convincing win over James Crossling and Monica Van Dyke 6-2.
In a tighter finish Robbie Bateman and Tamara Sutherland defeated Bob Williams and Imogen Fudge in a tiebreaker.
In the singles Frances/Lucindale managed four out of the possible 12 sets with Oliver Close, Bob Williams, Angus McTaggart and Hayley Crossling securing wins.
In the men’s doubles Tarrant Fudge and James Crossling made good on their singles shortcomings to beat Jake Harris and Cade Kelly 9-5.
Emma and Nat Chambers secured a win over Tash Green in a tight game, finishing 10-8.
Robe Roosters 15-137 d Naracoorte – 9-107
Robe Roosters defeated Naracoorte in an absolute cracker of a day for tennis on the coast.
Kelly Midwinter answered the call out for Naracoorte at the 11th hour after car trouble left three players stranded halfway to Robe.
Stepping in at number five man after a five-year absence from the game, she had not lost her touch! It was a strong start for the Roosters, taking four of the six mixed doubles.
The notable match of the mixed was between Roosters pair Steele/K Agnew and Naracoorte’s Mann/L.Midwinter, Roosters taking the set 7-6.
The Roosters continued their form, taking all six of the men’s singles, although there were two very long matches.
Paul Rains (RR) and Daniel Menzel (N) battled it out, Rains taking the match 7-5, while James Kokiousis (RR) and Kelly Midwinter (N) took their match to 7-6 (Roosters).
Naracoorte responded strongly in the women’s singles taking four matches.
In her seniors debut, Naracoorte junior Georgie Midwinter was able to get a win 7-5 over Samantha Matthews.
But the Roosters were too strong, securing all three men’s doubles, taking the win at the end of a great day.
Lucindale Koalas 16-136 d Lucindale Wombats 8-96
With the first real warm day it was time to get stuck into tennis (with plenty of water), however both teams needed a few fill ins to get a match on the court.
Lucindale youngster Ernie Buckett (Lucindale Wombats) made his step up to seniors, playing some great tennis against tough opposition.
The day had some cracking close matches with Mark Buckett (LW) taking home the cake 7-5 against Tom McKinnon (LK) with many long rallies.
Jackie Baker (LK) had a great win in her singles 6-1 over Alicia Orton (LW) and was also filling in for the day (still has the muscle memory).
But overall the Koalas were simply too strong in the heat, with wins also going to Sam Graetz, Chandler Smart, Duncan Ogilvie, Mitchell Baker, Leanne McCarthy and Emma Savage.
There were some great rallies and amazing shots across the day and the standard of tennis has definitely lifted if the president of Lucindale can only get a number five spot!
Penola 2-62 lt Robe Roosters 22-158
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With a bye over the long weekend, Round 11 will hit the courts on February 3.
Penola will have their work cut out for them when they host Lucindale Wombats.
After a long Christmas break, Kingston will look to get back into it, hosting Robe Roosters. But there are two matches that could make or break the season. The Robe Rebels will be looking to hold onto their second-place position when they take on Beachport.
Both teams have notably strong men’s sides, so it will be the women who make the difference on the day.
Although, the Rebel’s fighting spirit might just get them there.
In Frances the Eagles will look to make use of their home ground advantage against the Koalas.
This match will be decided by who can get the strongest players on the court.
For those who cannot get enough of tennis, on Sunday, February 4, juniors of the Upper South East will compete against juniors from Mount Gambier for the annual Schuller Shield.
This 14 and under tournament will be played at Lucindale Tennis Club from 9am and will showcase the best juniors in the region, our up-and-coming stars.
