Sydney NSW, Australia, 7 November 2013 | Tennis Australia
On a warm sunny spring day, round one of the NSW/ACT Conference was kicked off on the perfectly manicured lawn at Sydney University.
The women kicked off proceedings, and if the first round of matches were anything to go by, we were in for an awesome day of tennis ahead.
The Hosting Venue Sydney University Lions took on the experienced NSTA angels, in what was always going to be a close encounter. Michelle Brycki headed The Angels, and brought home the first victory in a tight 3 set match against The Lions Hayley Ericksen. All matched were very closely contested with The Angels walking away with the victory by 1 set. Definitely the dark horses in the competition this year.
When the preseason rankings were released NSW/ACT had Stanmore Wyverns at 3 and Canberra Velocity at 5, on paper it was always going to be a much anticipated clash, and it certainly lived up to expectations.
With The Wyverns big guns Adamczak and Dellacqua out, team manager Kriz came out of retirement, and showed blistering form to beat Canberra Velocity Wildcard Maria Vais in convincing fashion. Moriarty playing in the top spot, showed glimpses of her best against an unwell Alison Bai, nevertheless the match went down to the wire with Moriarty prevailing in the end. The Wyverns proving to be the best women’s team in the conference took the tie 4 rubbers to 2.
The Sydney Olympic Rebels managed by Luke Bourgeois have come back in year two, for one reason to take out the top prize in Melbourne. They meant business against the Macquarie University Warriors.
Matt Barton made a return to the court having been off injured for a month. Australian Tennis Legend Wally Masur joked in the launch “that anyone can take Barton on grass, because he stands 10 metres behind the baseline” but that wasn’t the case yesterday with Barton. After a sluggish start the world number 251 took out sets two and three in convincing fashion.
The Macquarie Uni Warriors did put on a fight unfortunately The Rebels were too strong for them on the day, and have again cemented themselves as title contenders in year two.
The Stanmore Wyverns team is one to take note of, with having many former top Australians listed on their team roster. With the likes of Stolle, Masur and Tebbutt out of play. Kriz drew upon the likes of Rocavert, Reid, Ede and Newington school boy Blazo Djurovic to take on the Lions. Like their female team mates, they showed experience and professionalism to take out the tie four rubber to two.
After a great day of tennis, all eyes turn to Newington College, The Stanmore Wyverns stomping ground on Friday to kick off Round two of the NSW/ACT Conference.
