The anticipated Wimbledon Round of the 2021-22 Southern Ports Tennis season provided a nice day at Lucindale with perfect conditions on Saturday.
But the big highlight of the weekend occurred 24 hours later when a superstar of the sport dropped by for a visit.
World No.140 Maddison Inglis visited Naracoorte on Sunday as part of Tennis Australia’s Females in Tennis Development Camp for girls aged 10-14.
The camp saw 24 up-and-coming junior tennis players attend to take part in a variety of on court and off court activities, along with an information session for parents.
With the Australian summer of tennis fast approaching, Inglis took time out of her pre-season training to be part of the delivery team on the day, running activities, joining players on court and providing valuable insights from her experience on the international tour.
Earlier many players had warmed up for the special day by putting out their best in the annual Wimbledon Round where the Lucindale Koalas had a solid win over the Millicent/Beachport team 16 sets to eight.
The Koalas took off well winning five of their six mixed doubles, but the scorecard is misleading.
It could easily have been three each if the two tie breakers fell the other way with Trevor Smart and Bron Longbottom just beating Ben and Jacob Lang 7-5 in the face off.
The match of the rubber was also played another mixed contest where Tim Durik and Leanne Graetz took on Jake Harris and Melissa McGrath.
It was fantastic tennis to watch with Durik and Graetz eventually finishing on top 7-3.
The Koalas then went on to win all but one of their men’s singles which showed how solid their side is.
The men’s and ladies’ doubles finished off the day with three sets each, but the day had been won.
Winners of all their matches were handy fill in Toby Longbottom for Millicent/Beachport, while Graetz, Kiele Longbottom, Adrian Maywald, Smart and Mark Buckett won all their matches for the Koalas.
The best player of the round was Buckett, who only dropped two games for the day.
The Wombats and Roosters boxed it out and the mixed doubles could not be split with each team claiming three sets each.
A cracking set between the number three’s was the highlight which eventually went to the Wombats in a tiebreaker 8-6.
A few tight singles happened around the courts as new Roosters’ recruit Andrew Thomas flexed his muscles in the tiebreaker and won 7-1.
At the start of the doubles the Roosters were up 10-8, but the Handbury duo proved too strong in the top ladies doubles to give Wombats a chance.
However, the Roosters held on to win 13-11.
Three set winners for the day were Andrew Thomas, Simon Ferguson, Lewis Ling, Lisa Hall for the Roosters, while Eliza Handbury, Lucy Handbury and Duncan Ogilive performed for the Wombats.
A full-strength Cockatoos team accounted for the Robe Rebels 17-7 on the grass courts of Lucindale.
There were several closely fought matches, but Jamie Weaver and Pete Agnew claimed match of the day in their singles encounter.
Agnew won the tie breaker finishing at 13-11.
There were only three Cockatoos to record three set wins, while Lachie Jones and Beth Drew record their first singles wins of the year.
Jamie Weaver (Lucindale Cockatoos) and Pete Agnew (Robe Rebels) who had a 15-13 tie breaker with the latter claiming the win.
It equalled the battle as Weaver won the mixed in a tie-breaker with his partner Katharine Legoe.
The game was marred by two players suffering injuries who were forced to forfeit matches.
The Frances Lucindale team welcomed the Kingston Crays to Wimbledon Day and enjoyed a day of good sportsmanship and tennis.
While the results went the Eagles way the Crays had plenty of talent on the courts with Bianca Cunneen and her father Craig Lawrie both having good wins in the singles.
The combination of Bianca and Stacey Lehmann backed up with a win in the top ladies’ doubles.
A minor Hamstring injury made Angus McTaggart retire from singles and men’s doubles, with local Physio Kimberley Langley giving courtside treatment on the day.
The home side marched to a 14-set win.
In the only match played away from Lucindale, the Kingston Dolphins travelled to face a strong Naracoorte side at home.
The mixed doubles kicked off with a tiebreak win for each team
In the singles, Sid Malone and Ash Stenner took to the courts for the second week in a row with the pressure firmly on Malone.
Stenner took on the challenge winning an additional three games to last week, only to go down 7-5.
Daniel Menzel and Stephen Edwards played a thrilling single, which Menzel won 7-5.
Unfortunately, this also saw an injury to Edwards which resulted in a forfeit in the doubles.
The doubles were under way early with wins to Naracoorte, which sealed the overall 16-set overall win.
The final round before the Christmas break looks set to be a cracker with some great clashes coming up.
Robe is no doubt in for a big weekend with the two teams facing each other as is Kingston for the first round of showdowns.
The Roosters and the Dolphins may get the bragging rights, but anything can happen in a showdown.
However, the match of the round will be Lucindale Wombats v Frances/Lucindale Eagles.
The Koalas should be too strong for the Cockatoos while Naracoorte travels to Furner to take on Millicent/Beachport who will be licking their wounds from the weekend.
