Melbourne VIC, Australia, 28 January 2015 | Tennis Australia

The Asia-Pacific Tennis League came to a grand conclusion during the Australian Open, with the playoffs of the State conference champions and International teams occurring.

2014 runners-up, Tennis Brisbane Chargers saluted in the men’s competition, with this capping off 3 years of hard work.

Despite having to face defending ATL champions New Zealand in the first round and top seeded Royal South Yarras in the semi finals, the Chargers were able to secure a birth in the final where they faced off against the Japan Phoneix.

In a hard fought final that came down to the wire and required a count back on games, the Chargers proved too strong for the Phoenix saluting by just 2 games.

Chargers wildcard, Ben Mitchell got his team off to a strong start against Phoenix wildcard Brydan Klein, recording a straights sets victory. This was backed up by team mates Robert Smeet and Maverick Banes, both recording straight sets victories against Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Yuichi Ito respectively.

This left the Chargers requiring just 1 set to secure victory and despite having numerous set points, Gavin Van Peperzeel was unable to capatilise with Phoneix number 4 Bumpei Sato being victorious.

Going into the doubles the Chargers were in a strong position, still just requiring 1 set to secure Victory. However the Phoenix doubles combination of Klein and Ito were too strong for Mitchell and Smeets, securing victory in straight sets.

This left the result of the match hanging on the outcome of the final doubles match. Despite Phoenix pair Nedunchezhiyan and Sato defeating Banes and Van Peperzeel in straight sets, it wasn’t enough to secure the win, with the Chargers winning by 2 games on a count back.

Speaking after the match, Warwick Nicol, manager of the Tennis Brisbane Chargers said “The boys played for each other. There was an incredible team atmosphere between them all through the North conference and again here in Melbourne at the playoffs.”

“The prize money is a great reward for their dedication, but I know that each of the boys would have played for nothing, such was their eagerness to salute following on from finishing 3rd (2013) and 2nd (2014) in previous years,” Nicol added.

Top seeds Royal South Yarras won the 3rd place playoff against Manly Waves. Further results from the playoffs are available here.