Tennis is back after the Christmas break in the Naracoorte SportsPower Southern Ports Tennis Association.
A number of mixed results were recorded across the board for round 10, as a tight win for newcomers Penola contrasted a very dominant day for the top team Naracoorte in Beachport.
The competition also had its first 100 club winner drawn at Penola – well done to Shaun Mules.
Beachport 3-84 lt Naracoorte 21-157
Naracoorte travelled to Beachport and while it was breezy it was good to see the sun shining.
Naracoorte started the afternoon showing its dominance in the mixed doubles – taking five wins.
Naracoorte’s Logan Smith and Max Lush had to work hard to win their set.
After starting the set down, Beachport’s Jacob Lang and Natalie Chambers took the match to the tiebreak.
Meanwhile, Beachport’s first of only a few sets came from Tim Loveday and Shae Morrish who defeated Sid Malone and Poppy Moyle-Read 6-1.
All players were keen to get on court in the singles, with the sets quickly falling the way of Naracoorte.
Match of the day went to the number one men between Beachport’s Tim Loveday and Naracoorte’s Sid Malone.
Both men played some top shots, enthralling the crowd of players and visitors.
The set came down to a tiebreak, won by Loveday to secure the home team’s second set of the day.
A few ‘Andy Murrays’ out on the court during the doubles competition.
Naracoorte women’s double pair Lush and Sam Baker turned it in at 7-2 down, winning eight of the next nine sets to claim a 10-8 victory.
On the next court, Naracoorte duo Smith and Albert Mann also put up a fight, securing the same score.
Beachport’s third set came in the final match of the day where Schultz and Watson scored a 9-6 win over Malone and Biggins.
Penola 13-132 def Lucindale Cockatoos 11-112
Lucindale Cockatoos travelled to a bustling Penola with tennis, cricket and a rodeo taking place at McCorquindale Park on Saturday.
The first round of matches being the mixed set the scene for what would be a close encounter with three out of the first six matches going into a tie breaker and scores level at the end of the first round.
Cockatoos’ number one seeds Matthew Waugh and Mark Bucket pipped Penola’s Ollie Homan and Nell Eastough in a tie breaker, along with number fours Peter Lawrie and Cate Orton coming out winners against Penola’s Shay Merrett and Paul Belino in a long match lasting 1.5 hours.
Penola number twos Brendan McInnes and Tegan Lythgo came out winners against Jack Grundy and Andrew Buckett.
In the singles Lucindale Cockies’ top seeds men were too strong for Penola with all top four Waugh, Grundy, Legoe and Lawrie winning over Penola men Homan, McInnes, England and Belino, with Penola’s bottom seeded men Andres McShane and Caz McGrath stabilising the ship.
Penola ladies bottom four got Penola back to an even playing field with Penola’s Lambert, Merrett and the MacDonald duo all winning comfortably.
After bellies were filled from another top notch Penola afternoon tea with pavlovas, cake and sausage rolls on offer the scores were still level at 9-9.
Homan and McInnes won in McInnes’ third tie breaker for the day against Waugh and Grundy 10-9.
Cockies’ Legoe and Lawrie were too strong for England and Belino winning 9-3 and number one ladies Cockies’ Bruckett duo were too strong for Penola’s Eastough and Lythgo, winning 9-4.
Penola’s bottom ranks came through with the goods with both ladies doubles Lambert and Merrett and the MacDonald pair winning their doubles 9-2 and McShane and McGrath winning the bottom men’s.
Robe Rebels 6-101 lt Kingston 18-144
Everyone was excited to get back for the first round of tennis after the Christmas break and it made for a lovely day even with the 40km winds all afternoon making playing conditions difficult for all players.
The top two doubles were close, Jed Regnier and Andrew Brown making a comeback from 4-0 down to go down 7-2 in a tiebreak against Matt Menz and Bianca Cunneen.
Shaun Mules and Alex Menz also went down 7-5 after staging a comeback against Max Robertson and Kim Austin.
The other four mixed doubles went the way of Kingston.
The number one men’s singles between Regnier and Menz was match of the day, a very even hard hitting affair with Menz breaking away in the end to take the win 7-5.
Kingston fielded a strong men’s side winning all the singles comfortably, while the women’s singles were three a piece.
In the end the doubles went the way of Kingston, Robe securing the only doubles win with mother and son duo Emma and Darcy Vasek winning over Georgia Burns and Erika Watson 9-4.
While the wind was mostly annoying it made it entertaining with some fancy footwork and tricky shots played by the players.
Three set winners for the day: Matt Menz, Lou Leidig, Will Edwards, James Lehmann, Jacob Mules and Bianca Cunneen from Kingston, with Emma Vasek being the sole three set winner from Robe.
The Lucindale Wombats and Koalas also enjoyed victories, with the Wombats burrowing down to beat the Robe Roosters 13-119 to 11-114 and the Koalas climbing high over the Frances/Lucindale Eagles 13-119 to 11-112.
Coming up in Round 11 only a few points separate the teams between second and sixth, with a competitive end to the season ensured.
Many teams will be looking to scrape into finals positions before March 4.
Next weekend though, the top teams Naracoorte and Lucindale Koalas will go head-to-head at Naracoorte.
This match went to the way of the Koalas earlier in the season and they will certainly be looking for another win to move into top spot.
Frances/Lucindale and Penola take to the courts, with Penola looking to take another win.
Both the Robe Roosters and Rebels will be seeking a win over Beachport and Lucindale Cockatoos respectively.
However, with each team looking for a spot in the final six, the tennis is sure to be competitive.
Kingston and the Lucindale Wombats will be another game to watch, both sides looking to sneak back into Div 1 contention.
It sure will be a round to watch across the Limestone Coast.
