After two stunning men’s and women’s singles finals at the Australian Open, courts across the Mount Gambier and District Tennis Association will be buzzing with players looking to replicate their heroes in the 12th round of the season this weekend.
Division 1 will take place on Saturday afternoon and the fixture has delivered with some tasty matchups being served up.
The top two sides of the competition Centrals/Uniting and Reidy Park will face off at the latter’s home court.
Reidy Park is the only team to overcome the ladder leaders this summer, but will be keen to remind their rivals why they are the nearest premiership contender.
In the previous head-to-head battle at Olympic Park Centrals/Uniting cruised to an easy win, but last Friday’s return to play was even more concerning for captain Zayne Young.
For the first time this summer Reidy Park lost to West Gambier in a tight 7-60 to 5-51 affair.
The majority of the one-on-one battles were tight, but things did not fall Reidy Park’s way and Young hopes this will not become a trend for the remainder of the season.
Reidy Park is forced to rebound against the best team in the competition Centrals/Uniting, which is on a high after another crushing performance.
Mark Heemskurk’s team smashed Glencoe with the likes of Andrew Van den Hurk and Noah Thomas in imperious form.
It was the third successive game where Centrals/Uniting won 10 or more sets and in this kind of form the team looks unbeatable.
West Gambier eyes a great opportunity to edge close to second-placed Reidy Park with a home fixture against the winless Glencoe.
West led by Joanne Sealey started the new year in grand style stunning Reidy Park under the Friday night lights of Olympic Park.
They are hoping to keep up their good form against a Glencoe team still hunting for its first victory.
However, the last time these sides met a thrilling battle took place where all 12 sets were shared evenly and West only prevailed by six games.
The wrestle over ladder positions in Division 2 is getting more intriguing as the weeks go by no one is safe.
West Gambier Red and Glencoe are head and shoulders above the rest, but the former suffered a significant scare last weekend.
Coming up against the fourth-placed Reidy Park, many expected West Red to continue its unbeaten streak with ease, but that was not the case.
Reidy Park was up for the fight and the contest was not decided until the final set of the day.
Both teams shared the sets evenly and eventually West Red escaped from jail after the thrilling affair by winning five more games.
West Red will have a bye, but hopes its sister team West Blue can make life difficult for archrival Glencoe.
The maroons are one win away from levelling things at the top and are on a high after resuming their campaign with a comprehensive performance against Mount Gambier Green.
Both games will be held under the Friday night lights of Olympic Park, while club rivalries will be settled between Mount Gambier Blue and Green on Heriot Street where both sides will hunting for much-needed glory.
Last weekend the race for the Division 3 minor premiership heated up with both Suttontown sides now in Mil Lel’s rear-vision mirror.
Mil Lel will be looking to harness its momentum from its important win over the Suttontown Tigers away from home with another strong performance against Centrals.
Centrals were forced to lick their wounds after falling agonizingly short to Uniting.
Still bruised from surrendering top spot, the Tigers must jump in the ring with sister team the Dons in what could be an interesting affair with neither team willing to take a backward step to avoid giving up bragging rights.
Uniting hosts Moorak with the home team expected to get the job done.
