The top players turned it on in one of the most competitive rounds of the 2021/22 Mount Gambier and District Tennis Association Division 1 season on Saturday.

The stars of the summer so far Reidy Park and Centrals/Uniting, faced off at Shepherdson Road and put on a show under the sun for the crowd.

All season Centrals/Uniting has been the dominant force, but Reidy Park was prepared to take the fight to the ladder leaders and threw everything at them on home turf.

The stage was set after neither side could wrestle the initiative during the six sets of singles action.

Andrew van den Hurk threw down the gauntlet with a crushing 6-1 win over rising rival Zayne Young for the fight to be the number one single on show.

However, Reidy Park found an immediate response in the form of Cade Kelly, who outclassed his opponent Noah Thomas by four games to level the scoreboard.

The back and forth nature of the action continued as Dane Heemskerk and Ashlea Dunn cleaned up their respective opponents Joel Childs and Emily Edwards.

But just when Centrals/Uniting started to gain some momentum, the home side rallied once again.

Jayme Young was in fine form accounting for Casey Walker 6-1, while Sharon Edwards had a slightly tougher time overcoming Jade Delaney, but still won by the comfortable four-game margin.

Reidy Park’s late charge in the singles ensured it was all to play for in the doubles with the overall battle going down to the closing stages of the afternoon.

The top men’s doubles battle was an entertaining affair as the Reidy Park duo showed some strength against the ladder leaders.

Young and Kelly dug deep and knocked off the van den Hurk and Thomas combination by scoring double the number of games.

But Centrals/Uniting was not going to do down without a fight and van den Hurk tasted some sweet redemption in his next set of doubles.

Van den Hurk teamed up with Heemskurk and the duo used all their experience to edge out Young and Childs after some top-class tennis.

A fierce intensity was established from the first serve and the rivals pushed themselves all over the court.

But eventually the Centrals/Uniting pair prevailed 6-4 to keep the scoreboard in a state of flux.

The back and forth nature of the day continued as the teams continued to share the sets evenly.

Kelly and Childs were too good for Thomas and Heemskurk to put the hosts back on top before the ledger was levelled again once Dunn and Walker won the opening women’s doubles comfortably.

After 10 rubbers the scoreboard was locked at five sets each, so the pressure was on for the women to find their best in the last pair of doubles, which would determine the outcome of the high stakes clash.

Emily and Sharon Edwards showed they can survive in the heated environment outclassing their opponents to secure an important 6-3 win.

The result may have put Reidy Park in the box seat, but the home side still had a job to do with one rubber to go.

Walker and Vanessa Maxwell understood the gravity of the situation and gave it their best shot.

But Jayme Young and Sharon Edwards were also hungry for success and the rivals played some fascinating tennis fighting for victory.

The set went deeper than any other and the Reidy Park pair held their nerve to score a stunning win.

Jayme Young and Sharon Edwards’ 7-5 triumph was enough for the home side to score just its second victory over Centrals/Uniting to make an impression ahead of finals.

The contest played at Malseed Park between West Gambier and Glencoe may not have been the heavyweight fight, but it carried an equal amount of importance.

Last season’s minor premier Glencoe is still hunting for its maiden win of the season and gave it a huge shake on Saturday.

Thanks to the dominant efforts of Dylan Childs and Tim Biggins, Glencoe enjoyed a dream start when they scored huge singles wins.

After a pair of one-sided affairs, tensions lifted dramatically during the next three sets which were all tiebreakers and went down to the wire.

Ty Lang drew first blood to get the home side after he edged out Cameron Brooks 7-6 in the first classic of the day.

But Glencoe returned serve thanks to Sarah Edwards, who fought out a competitive arm wrestle with Jessica Stutley.

It was third time lucky for the fans as another singles stoush was pushed to the brink.

Glencoe’s Jorja Mitchell used her exuberance to keep up with the smarts of experienced West Gambier captain Jo Sealey.

The game turned into an endurance test after they both collected six games in their pockets, but Mitchell emerged on top.

After the thrills and spills of three successive tiebreakers, players were able to take a breather during the next three one-sided rubbers.

Ella Jolley smashed Alice Tentye six-love, while Childs and Biggins gave Glencoe the perfect start to the doubles.

In response to the blowout, Cook and Ty Lang came out hard in their doubles contest against Childs and Brooks.

They secured a 6-2 win which kickstarted West Gambier’s run to glory.

Biggins and Brooks gave the Langs a brief scare, but the latter held on 7-5, while Stutley and Sealey hardly had to break a sweat overcoming Edwards and Mitchell.

However, Glencoe through Edwards and Tentye gave it one last crack in the 12th rubber.

The combination played some brilliant rallies, but could not keep up with Stutley and Jolley in the tiebreaker.

Sealey and Jolley also made it five straight rubbers for West to secure the exciting come-from-behind 7-5 win.