The sun was shining for Round 7 of Southern Ports tennis, which made for a pleasantly warm day.
Robe lived up to its reputation with a windy day, which made the tennis interesting, but the wind was at its best on the weekend with skill execution proving very difficult and providing lots of laughs at the same time.
The Lucindale Wombats were excited to head to the seaside to the always hospitable Robe Rebels. It was initially looking a little tough for the Rebels who were missing their top lady, Tori Gluyas, but they jumped right out of the starting blocks and won three of the first four mixed doubles.
The windy conditions added a whole new element for both teams with the ball swinging in mid-air, but despite the wind there were some unbelievable rallies.
The Wombats steadied and managed to even the score in the last two mixed doubles matches. A solid 6-1 win for Russell Robinson who paired with Ethan Hocking in the mixed.
Matt Waugh and Lucy Handbury fought a great battle against Paul Bobridge and Isabelle Sneath, a match which continued all the way to a tight tie-break. The singles were a bit of a one-sided affair with the Wombats proving why they are sitting nicely up in second spot on the ladder, winning 11 of 12 singles.
Nicole Hocking staged a come-back to get the win 7-5 over Sarah Laurie in a long battle. The doubles were much closer, proving that a different skill set and mind set is required in this format of the game.
As always there were some great rallies to watch. The wombats proved too strong in the remaining four doubles and won all four 9-5. The wombats were too strong on the day and won 18-6.
The Lucindale Koalas had a solid win over the Kingston Dolphins 19 sets to five in a great tennis atmosphere at Kingston.
The Koalas came out of the blocks well, winning five of their six mixed doubles. Stephen Edwards and Theresa Mules were the sole winners in the mixed for Kingston, however, their luck changed in the singles with both of them going down. Edwards lost in a hard fought 5-7 against Chandler Smart.
The best match of the singles was played between Shaun Mules and Tim Durik where they fought it out in a tie-breaker with Durik just getting the win. In the men’s and ladies’ doubles Kingston was only able to get one win, where Jorja Mules got her first win of the day paired up with Laura Baker.
It was great to see Juniors out and about again, with James Buckett recording a win in his first ever game for Southern Ports and Jock McKay had a great season filling in, winning all his matches convincingly, only dropping seven games for the day.
Other winners of all their matches were Tim Durik, Leanne Graetz, Adrian Maywald, Mark Buckett and Trevor Smart. Buckett was named best player, only dropping five games for the day.
Lucindale Cockatoos joined Millicent/Beachport at Furner for a great day out. The Cockatoos were missing a few players and could not get another win on the board with Millicent/Beachport proving too strong for the day, winning 18 sets to 6. Millicent got the first jump winning four out of the six mixed doubles and took control of the day after the singles.
The match of the day was the top Men’s single with Millicent/Beachport’s Jake Harris and Lucindale Cockatoo’s Anthony McCarthy battling it out in a match full of long rallies and hard hitting. McCarthy got the edge and the win in a tie breaker. Despite the score line, it was a great day and an enjoyable afternoon.
It was an exceptional day to travel to the coast for the match between Naracoorte and Kingston Crays. The mixed doubles produced two tiebreaks, one for each team. In the singles, the Naracoorte ladies continued their winning streak and secured all six singles.
The men’s singles was a tough battle between Mitchell Pinkerton and Daniel Menzel which Pinkerton secured in a tie-break. An untouchable George White also broke his curse, defeating cousin Matt Menz 6-4. However, match of the day was a hard-hitting tussle between Bianca Cunneen and Poppy Moyle-Read on the show court. Cunneen secured an early break to go up 3-1.
However, Moyle-Read fought back and bought the game square again. At 6-6 all eyes were firmly on the front court. This time Moyle-Read took an early lead, blitzing to 5-2. Cunneen was able to hit her way back to 6-6.
After the change of ends, Moyle-Read was able to break serve to win the match 7-6 (8-6). Naracoorte 19-157 defeated Kingston Crays 5-105.
The Eagles had a convincing win over the Roosters. Top performances on the day were the Roosters’ Leanne Cameron, Kimberly Austin and Eagles’ Flo Burgwin, Sarah Hinge, Sophie Ford, Peter Lawrie, Bob Williams and Angus McTaggart. The match of the day was the number one men’s doubles, which was a classy display of superb grass court Tennis.
Round eight is set to be exciting, with all matches except one being played at Lucindale for the annual Wimbledon Day, where all players will sport white attire and enjoy Pimm’s with strawberries and cream in-between matches.
The match between Lucindale Koalas and Millicent/Beachport will be one to watch as a top-four clash. The Koalas may have the edge being at home on the lawn, but Millicent/Beachport will not want to drop this one so it will be a nail-biter to the end.
Lucindale Cockatoos will be back on grass, which may give them a fighting chance against the Robe Rebels.
