LOCAL TENNIS with Donna Schoenmaekers

Surprises and narrow defeats dominated the finals of Tennis Geelong’s Junior Pennant Championship, with the fourth-place team winning eight of their eleven matches.

Grovedale Black lost to Ocean Grove 1 Boys by five sets to one. However, as Denzil Ludowyk and Rafael Berra won the tiebreak, the result could have been even closer.

Surfcoast Torquay suffered the same defeat in their encounter with Geelong Lawn in Green Ball 2. Torquay lost three tiebreaks, with Grace Scholes and Victoria Nobile Grisolla taking the singles wins for Lawn before teaming up in the doubles to achieve the same.

Western Heights Uniting suffered a similar fate in 2 Boys, losing two games to four and just three games to Surfcoast Jan Juc. Liam Packett managed a tiebreak victory over Evie Ryan in the first singles, while Coen and Boah Reid did the same in the first doubles, getting Juc over the finish line after winning the third and fourth singles.

Bannockburn faced Wandana Heights for the second time in the 6th week in a row in the boys’ division but got their first win against them at the crucial moment to take a 4-2 lead. Wandana’s premier team also lost to Grovedale Yellow. This was the first time the teams had met this season so it was anyone’s guess how the game would turn out but Yellow came out on top by two games to one at the end of the morning.

Lara also dashed Wandana’s hopes in Green Ball 3. The first two singles ended 6-3, one each for each team, and the doubles were tied, both ending 6-2. So the difference lay in wins by Mitchell Raggatt and Kaylene Van Wyk in the third and fourth singles.

1 Girls was the bright spot for Wandana as they defeated Ocean Grove. Again, the game could have ended differently as each team won a singles tiebreak, but Wandana won three of the four before each team won a doubles match, meaning Wandana will face minor premiers Barwon Heads next week.

Ocean Grove had a close battle with the Heads in 5 Boys, with the teams tied at two sets after the singles and Grove only three games ahead. Ocean Grove’s strength in the doubles showed, however, as Harry Gibson and Oke Willis won the first game 6-2 and Samuel Johnston and Jed Verlander sealed victory in the second game 6-4.

Barwon Heads fared better in the Girls 4, beating Grovedale 4-2. Sasha Guest won both her sets for the Heads to help the team to victory, although Aria Young won both her sets for Grovedale.

Grovedale had a better day in the 4 Boys when battling Geelong Lawn. The teams were only separated by percentage on the leaderboard but despite a solid fight from Lawn, Grovedale came out on top.

The closest match of the day was between Geelong Lawn and Clifton Springs White in 3 Girls, where three sets went to tiebreaks and the final score was just one game. The visiting Springs team took a 3-1 lead in the singles with just four games to spare, but Lawn shone in the doubles, with Lucy Robertson and Eva Katzer winning the first 6-2, meaning the winner of the second set was also the winner of the match. The set was tight until the end, with Priya Antony and Charlotte White eventually winning in a tiebreak for Lawn.