The Southern Ports Tennis Association players could not have asked for better weather on the weekend with it being nice and hot for a great round of tennis.

Teams soaked up the sun and produced some big movement on the ladder in round 13 of the season.

The Koalas travelled to Frances which, in an upset, saw the Eagles take the points in a tight 14 sets to 10 match.

This has meant the Koalas fell down the tree from second to fifth, while the Eagles soared to fourth.

The Wombats who had a solid 17 sets to 7 win over Millicent/Beachport have moved into second spot and are looking very good with two games to go.

It was anticipated the Robe Roosters were going to have their work cut out for them coming against an in-form Kingston Crays side.

But they came up with the goods and have also moved up a position to be sitting in third spot but unfortunately for Kingston they have dropped to eighth.

Naracoorte despite struggling to fill a side this week continued their dominance with another strong 16 sets to eight win over the Cockatoos who have managed to find the wooden spoon position again.

It was top tennis all round at Frances, with many close matches.

The first few for the day were classics with the Eagles snagging a couple of tie breaks.

Three set winners for the Eagles were Flo Burgwin, Craig Jones, Riley Staude and Sophie Ford, while the only Koala to achieve the feat was Trevor Smart.

It was a nice day in Robe with the sun out and a slight breeze and the action was tight from the get-go with the mixed going three sets each.

There were some long sets too with a great one with the number three’s going to Kingston 7-5.

In the singles the Roosters flexed their muscles winning nine out of the 12 sets.

Courtney Drabsch had a great set winning her singles on centre court 6-4 over Laura Baker.

At the end of the day seen the Roosters take five and six doubles to win the day 17-7.

Three set winners were Alex Clements, Tim Malone, Simon Ferguson, Barb Hensel and Breanna Ferguson for the Roosters, while Bianca Cunneen was the only one for the Crays.

The Wombats and Millicent/Beachport contest was slated to be a tough one with both keen for a win to cement their places on the ladder.

After the rivals’ first encounter was washed out it was going to be interesting to see which way the matches went.

As with most weeks it really went down to which team could get their regulars on the court.

The wombats were almost full strength and were ably filled in by Jack Grundy and Tash Green.

The Millicent/Beachport side missed a few more which could explain the winning margin in the Wombats’ favour.

Although the scoresheet showed a decisive 10-set victory for the Wombats, there were some great matches.

The mixed doubles were all reasonably one sided with the Wombats claiming all but one set, while the singles were a little closer.

Jared Oliver and Millicent/Beachport’s Todd Watson played a great battle with some fantastic rallies.

This one went Watson’s way in the tie-break, while Tash Green and Sally Bateman were out on the back courts in a game that almost went the distance.

However, Green was able to get up 7-5.

The Wombats’ tall timber Ben Wood and Ethan Hocking paired up well, managing to get the win 9-7 over Jacob Lang and Robbie Bateman.

To close out the day the number one men’s doubles was great to watch.

Jake Harris and Tim Loveday paired up beautifully and were too strong for the wombats duo, Brad Hocking and Matt Waugh.

But dominant performances from the team’s six three-set winners pushed the Wombats to a new level.

Confidence was low on Saturday for both the Cockatoos and Naracoorte after a week of scrambling to find players.

It was great to see both teams make the court and Naracoorte started the mixed doubles strong taking a 5-1 lead.

But the singles was an even contest with Anthony McCarthy defeating George White 6-4.

Fluff Legoe played a stellar game to outplay Lottie Clyne, 6-1 in her last match before heading off to college.

For Naracoorte, comfortable wins to Will Malone, Kelsie and Michele Moyle-Read and Katelyn Baker kept the team in the lead, while Mic Wilhelm proved a handy fill-in, winning his single 6-4 over Mitch Baker.

However, match of the day goes to Jamie Weaver and Steve Biggins after the former secured a tiebreak in a set that saw players shake hands, and then continue playing, much to the amusement of the crowd.

Naracoorte required two doubles to take the day and the sealing wins came quickly from the Moyle-Read pair with the result 16-145 to 8-104.

The next two weeks are set to be rippers with matches crucial for wins as the ladder gets tighter.

The top five are all facing off this week with the match of the round set to be a Lucindale showdown against the Wombats and Koalas.

If the Wombats want to try lock in second spot, they need the win as they have the points for the following round while koalas are only sitting fifth by a single point so will need to secure the win to try creep back up the ladder.

I think this will be one hell of a battle if both sides are at full strength.

The Robe Roosters will be looking at filling their best side yet to try get a win over the dominating Naracoorte side.

If Roosters can snag a win it will keep them right in the mix for the top five positions.

Robe Rebels will be getting pumped as they climbed to seventh and are sitting four points off Millicent/Beachport.

Rebels will have a tough task against the Eagles, but the Rebels’ super competitive captain will be putting up a fight to try sneak into the finals.

Lastly but with no less importance is the match against sixth placed Millicent/Beachport and eighth placed Kingston Crays.

This is a must win for both teams with the pressure building on Millicent/Beachport who are fighting to hang on to a finals berth.

Earlier on in the season a fairly one sided affair would have been but I think that will be far from the result on Saturday, while the Cockatoos get the rest this week.

The Baker and Ey Shield is on this Sunday at Lucindale.

When the top players from across the association come together to take on Mount Gambier.

The Southern Ports Tennis Association has some strong teams in both shields and hopes to take some silverware home.