12 December 2016 | Tennis Victoria

Grace Park Hawthorn Club have continued their Tennis Victoria Premier League dominance, winning an incredible fourth consecutive title on Sunday, while Liston Tennis Club secured victory in the women’s competition. View photo album here.

Playing against ladder leaders Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club in the season final held at MCC Glen Iris Valley Tennis Club, Grace Park’s Steven De Waard / Frank Moser and Dane Proppogia / Adam Hubble got the team off to a flying start, winning both doubles matches to put the team ahead 2-0.

Jarryd Maher then toppled Kooyong’s David Bidmeade in their singles rubber to seal the victory for Grace Park 3-8-72 to 1-5-67.

“We have a good group of guys, and to win four Premier League titles in a row is something pretty special,” said De Waard. “It’s something we want to try and keep going next year as well.

“Kooyong are a really strong team, it was a really tough match all day and we had to play really well to get the win.

“We started really well with the two doubles wins, and I thought we were in control but as the day progressed Kooyong played really well in the singles. I was getting pretty nervous there, I thought there was a chance they could come back and win but luckily Jarryd had a good third set and we got over the line,” he said.

In the women’s competition, Liston reversed the decision of last season and were too strong for MCC Glen Iris Valley, claiming victory 3-8-53 to 0-1-22.

In a grand final re-match, a dominant performance by Jessica Moore / Arina Rodianova and Alison Bai / Masa Jovanovic, saw Liston take the early lead heading into the singles matches.

Canberra’s Alison Bai displayed her scintillating form, charging home to claim the winning rubber against Jessica Brzozwska 6-0 6-0.

“After coming runners up last season, we went about picking the best team we could, so we looked at every best available player to strengthen our current team,” said Liston team manager Dane Nebel.

“We had Arina Rodionova, Jessica Moore and Alison Bai so we had three girls in the top 10 in Australia which was pretty impressive.

“But it’s not just about having the best players, you want them to have fun and create a good team environment to get the best out of them and it’s great to see that they really enjoyed the season,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Destanee Aiava (Kooyong Lawn) and Marc Polmans (Kooyong Lawn) were awarded the Paul Arber Memorial Award. The award aims to recognise athletes who display Determination, Strong Work Ethic and Excellent Sportsmanship.

Receiving the Premier League ACE Award for having the highest points total after the five rounds of regular competition was Western Australia’s Jessica Moore (Liston) and Steven De Waard (Grace Park Hawthorn).

“It’s been a really good season for me, I played a lot of good matches and to be consistent over the season to win that award is something I’m pretty happy with,” said De Waard.

Liston also took home the Community Engagement Award for having the best home round of the season, which included a family day and dog show.

“The club is really excited, the $2,000 cash prize for the Community Engagement Award is great because we will put that straight into next year’s home round,” concluded Nebel.

Tennis Victoria’s Premier League is the state’s highest level inter-club competition.