James Murphy
TENNIS returned to the region over the weekend with the opening round of the Mount Gambier and District Tennis Association season.
In the senior fixture the round was kicked off on Friday night with Division 1 action, with the remaining grades played on Saturday afternoon.
There was a tight contest between Reidy Park and Glencoe to open the Division 2 competition.
Both teams finished with six sets each, but Reidy Park won the day on game difference, with a total of 53 compared to Glencoe’s 39.
The rubber one match saw Glencoe’s Tim Biggins claim a 6-1 win over Finn Kensley, while Glencoe also took out the rubber two and three matches.
Sam Auld defeated Jonty Collins 6-3, while David Cole claimed a tighter 7-5 win over Matt Gazzard.
Those results put Glencoe in good stead, but a few convincing wins to Reidy Park started to push the game difference out.
Jayme Young won the top women’s game 6-0 over Eliza Cole, while Maggie Collins and Sarah Brown also won their singles matches 6-0.
It was the same story in the doubles, as Reidy Park’s women won their three matches with the closest margin 6-1, while Glencoe’s men prevailed with 6-1, 6-2 and 6-4 results.
At the end of the day that left the overall honours up to game difference, which went Reidy’s way thanks to the performances from its women.
Another close encounter was had over at West Gambier, where the home team hosted Mount Gambier for Round 1.
The final score had the guests in the winning circle seven sets to five after an afternoon of close matches.
The top men’s clash resulted in a 7-5 win for West’s Jamie Higgins over Gambier’s Ben Kerin.
Mark Stutley also won his singles for the hosts, with a 6-2 win over Will Cameron, while Lachlan Patzel held up the Gambier men with a tough tie-breaker win over Matthew Charlton.
For the women there was two tie-breakers required, as Gambier’s Lucy Clarke defeated Kirra McKenny and West’s Gemma Ballintyne edged out Jayel Van den Hurk.
A 6-4 win to Renae Cameron over West’s Sharon Edwards wrapped up the singles, with three sets each.
The doubles proved the difference in the end, as Gambier won four of the six sets on offer.
Renae Cameron and Van den Hurk had a dominant 6-0 win over Edwards and Ballintyne, while the closest match was a tie-breaker win to West’s Higgins and Stutley over Kerin and Michael Cameron.
It was a more one-sided contest over at Mil Lel, when the home club hosted Suttontown for the round.
Mil Lel claimed the honours with a six-set overall victory, winning nine of the 12 matches.
Suttontown would take merit from a win in the top men’s clash, as Brody Sharam defeated Jason Brooks 6-1.
However, from there the success was limited.
Mil Lel was too strong in the other singles matches, as Craig Moody defeated Tom Inglis 6-3 and CJ Arnold accounted for Cory Sharam 6-1 to round out the men’s singles.
The closest singles contest was Jorja Douglas’ 7-5 win over Agnes Doyle, while the other women’s clashes saw Kate Fabian and Jessica Douglas win 6-2 and 6-1 respectively.
Suttontown managed to chip back a couple of sets in the doubles, with Brody Sharam and Inglis winning 6-4 while the Sharam combination of Brody and Cory claimed a 7-5 win.
The other four sets all went Mil Lel’s way, with the closest a 6-4 victory for Fabian and Jorja Douglas over Casey Sampson and Molly Lennon.
The convincing result puts Mil Lel on top of the Division 2 ladder after the opening round, with a tough clash against Glencoe looming this week.
