THE Southern Ports Tennis Association held its annual Wimbledon round on Saturday, hosted on the lawn courts at the Lucindale Tennis Club.
Scores across all matches were tight as the competition closes in towards grand final day in just three weeks.
Frances/Lucindale Eagles are one step closer to their third Division 1 final with a win over the Robe Rebels.
In the upset of the day, top team Kingston were defeated the Lucindale Koalas who are moving up the ladder quickly, in the hunt for a Division 1 finals position.
Naracoorte kept its season alive, defeating the Lucindale Wombats with the help of some young rising stars and in an unlikely match-of-the-day Robe Roosters claimed a close win over Penola.
ROBE ROOSTERS 12-119 D PENOLA 12-110
The Roosters defeated Penola by just nine games in a tightly-contested match.
With both teams running at 50 percent capacity, there was a crew of willing fill-ins who were keen to take the court, hailing from Germany, England and beyond.
It was a tough fight all day, with scores locked at eight sets all heading into the doubles.
Robe’s men won all three doubles, but they were closely fought back by the Penola women who also took all three sets.
The last women’s doubles was a clincher, with penola claiming the win 8-10.
Three-set winners were Robe’s Paul Rains and Lewis Ling, along with Penola’s Michelle Coomans and Charlie Pearce.
FRANCES-LUCINDALE EAGLES 13-114 D ROBE REBELS 11-122
Frances-Lucindale claimed a tight win, but both teams had two players win three sets for the day – Eagles Bob Williams and Oliver Close and Rebels Lisa Hall and Kimberly Austin.
The match of the day was the doubles between Angus McTaggart and Bob Williams (Eagles) and Andrew Brown and Jesse Robertson.
The Eagles pair were down 7-3 and fought back to win 9-7.
LUCINDALE KOALAS 14-125 D KINGSTON 10-109
The Lucindale Koalas claimed a more comfortable contest against a tough, undefeated Kingston outfit.
The Koalas team list looked different, with their three top men unavailable, but they where able to get the win.
Kingston came out strong in the mixed doubles, taking five of the six sets.
Two matches went down to the wire with the top mixed going 7-5 Kingston’s way, with Koalas Duncan Ogilvie and Leanne Graetz defeated by Kingston’s Matthew Menz and Bianca Cunneen, while the number six mixed went to a tie break, with Koalas Erin McWater and Hudson Menz defeating Kingston’s Tim Parker and Jorja Mules.
The singles match of the day saw Koalas Mitchell Baker and Kingston’s Lou Leidig, taking place on court 3 with many spectators enjoying the contest.
Baker was able to get the win 7-5.
At the end of the singles, sets where tied, but the Koalas where able to come home strong to take five of the doubles.
The top doubles was high quality tennis, with Leanne Graetz and Casey Weaver defeating Bianca Cunneen and Abby Mules 10-8.
Three match winners for the Koalas where Baker, Leanne McCarthy and McWaters and for Kingston, William Edwards.
NARACOORTE 14-119 D LUCINDALE WOMBATS 10-110
Naracoorte’s juniors stood out against the Lucindale Wombats, clinching a do-or-die win for their team.
The day started with strong performances for both teams in the mixed doubles, Naracoorte winning three of their sets 6-4.
But it was Lucindale’s Vander Maywald and Lyndal Johns who came out swinging with a 6-1 win over Samuel Birchard and Alice Redding.
In the singles, it was the juniors for both teams who set the standard for the afternoon.
Georgie Midwinter and Redding both secured strong 6-1 wins for Naracoorte.
Maywald returned serve with a 6-1 win of his own for the Wombats.
At the top of the order, wins to Poppy and Michele Moyle-Read, plus Lucy Midwinter, rounded out six singles sets for Naracoorte, supported in the men’s by Daniel Menzel and Jen Malone.
Naracoorte held 12 sets heading into the doubles, looking for just the one to win.
Mark Buckett and Sam Crocker, who displayed stellar performances all day, turned it on for Lucindale with a 9-3 win over Norbert Wende and Albert Mann.
Brad Hocking and Jack Grundy claimed a 9-6 win.
However, Naracoorte was too strong, as the Moyle-Read mother-daughter duo found the final set, 9-1.
The match of the day went to the Wombat’s Alicia Orton and Johns who held out in a final tussle to defeat Midwinter and Redding, 10-8.
Round 13
With just two rounds left, the top six positions are all up for grabs.
Kingston will look for a good win over Penola to boost its set percentage and hold onto top spot.
Likewise Beachport will hope to do the same as they take on the Roosters to remain in third.
The second-placed Eagles take on the sixth-placed Wombats, with the latter only one win ahead of Naracoorte, who are pushing for a finals spot.
They have their work cut out for them against fast-finishing Lucindale Koalas in fourth position.
The fifth-placed Rebels have the bye.
