Both men’s and women’s Canberra Velocity teams have staged comebacks to defeat the Sydney Saints. World number 30, Nick Kyrgios lined up for doubles, while 12 year old Annerly Poulos made an impressive debut for the team.
In the men’s match, world number 291 Matthew Barton got the Saints out to an early lead at the top spot defeating Velocity’s Jake Eames 4-1, 4-2. Alex Babanine then levelled the scores, defeating Brian Tran in two tiebreak sets. Simon Ede then put the Saints ahead 2-1 with a dominant performance against Daniel Guccione. James Frawley hit back to level the match with a win over Kody Pearson.
With the match locked at 2-2, Nick Kyrgios joined with former Davis Cup player Alun Jones to take on Benard Nkomba and Barton. Velocity went up an early break, but were unable to consolidate, losing the first set in a tiebreak. They rebounded to take the second 4-1, and then won the third set tiebreak. Velocity closed out the victory with Jake Eames and James Frawley defeating Ede and Pearson in straight sets.
The Velocity women’s team came back from the brink of defeat to beat the Saints, 3 rubbers all, 9 sets to 7. Ashley Keir and Kaitlin Staines both lost tough three set matches to see Velocity down 2-0. Tyra Calderwood staged a trademark comeback after saving 3 match points in the 2nd set, winning the match 4-3 in the 3rd set. 12 year old, Annerly Poulos then took to the court for her first match for the Velocity. Currently on a 35 match singles winning streak, Poulos dominated her older opponent, dropping just 1 game to level the scores at 2-2.
In the doubles, Keir and Calderwood were dominate in their victory over Lisa Mays and Brooke Winley dropping just 3 games to put Velocity up 3-2. Staines and Poulos took the first set 4-1 over Angelique Svinos and Martina Hudaly, then dropped the second in a tiebreak. They lost the deciding match tiebreak 5-3 to level the score at 3-3. A countback on sets saw Velocity win the match 9 sets to 7.
Both the other matches went down to the wire, with rubbers and sets both all tied. The Western Sydney Warriors women defeated the Sunshine Coast Breakers by just 3 games, while the Sunshine Coast Breakers men defeated the Western Sydney Warriors by 7 games.
Velocity will return to action tomorrow against the Sunshine Coast Breakers at the Canberra Tennis Centre. Tomorrow will feature family activities including a jumping castle, face painting, speed serve, hit the target, and ANZ Tennis Hot Shots. Entry to the Canberra Tennis Centre is free.
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