WIMBELDON descended on Lucindale on the weekend with the themed Round 8 of the Southern Ports Tennis season.
The courts were filled with white, with cucumber sandwiches plus strawberries and cream, while the Pimm’s flowed but unfortunately the weather was a touch cold for viewing.
The round went to script but with a big upset as the Robe Roosters claimed the win over the Lucindale Wombats.
The Roosters now sit just one game behind the Eagles and Millicent/Beachport, with the Wombats dropping to third and the Lucindale Koalas, who surprisingly smashed Millicent/Beachport, up to second spot.
The remaining matches were all convincing wins, with the Cockatoos fielding a full team this week to have a strong win over the Robe Rebelsl while the Eagles showed a dominant performance over the Kingston Crays.
The only match to not play at Lucindale was again dominated by the team to beat – Naracoorte – only dropping four sets for the day.
Robe Roosters claimed a 13-11 win over Lucindale Wombats on a pleasant day for tennis.
The mixed doubles could not be split, as each team claimed three sets, with a cracking set from the number threes going to the Wombats in a tiebreaker 8-6.
A few tight singles matches provided plenty of entertainment, as Roosters recruit Andrew Thomas flexed his muscles in the tiebreaker 7-1 for the win.
At the start of the doubles the Roosters were up 10-8.
The Handbury duo proved too strong in the top women’s doubles to give Wombats a chance but the Roosters held on to win 13-11.
The Lucindale Koalas had a solid win over the Millicent/Beachport Team 16-8.
The Koalas began well to claim five of their six mixed doubles in close matches.
The match of the day saw Tim Durik and Leanne Graetz face Jake Harris and Melissa McGrath.
Durik and Graetz claimed the victory off a 7-3 tie-break win.
The Koalas then went on to win all but one of their men’s singles, while the men’s and women’s doubles finished off the day with three sets each.
A full-strength Cockatoos team accounted for the Robe Rebels 17-7.
There were several tight matches but Jamie Weaver and Pete Agnew played out the match of the day in their singles encounter with the tie-break going to Agnew 13-11.
In the only match played away from Lucindale, Kingston Dolphins travelled to face a strong Naracoorte.
The mixed doubles kicked off with a tie-break 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 to win an additional three games to last week, only to go down 7-5.
for the top women, Poppy and Kelsie Moyle-Read were in top form, sealing their double, 9-2 over Nikki Gluyas and Fraser Watts.
Naracoorte claimed the honours 20-4.
Frances/Lucindale Eagles welcomed the Kingston Crays and claimed a strong 19-5 victory.
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 women’s doubles.
In the final round before the Christmas break Robe is in for a big weekend with the two teams facing each other, as is Kingston for the first round of showdowns.
The match of the round will see Lucindale Wombats take on 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, with the visitors tipped to claim the points.
Round 9 draw: Robe Roosters v Robe Rebels at Robe; Millicent/Beachport v Naracoorte at Furner (12:30pm Start); Lucindale Cockatoos v Lucindale Koalas at Lucindale; Lucindale Wombats v Frances/Lucindale Eagles at Lucindale; Kingston Crays v Kingston Dolphins at Lucindale.
