The Asia Pacific Tennis League is set to hit Adelaide this weekend with South Australian teams set to compete against teams from Tasmania and Western Australia. The Asia Pacific Tennis League is now in its fifth year and is Australia highest domestic level team tennis event.
In 2015/16 South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania will be in Pool B of the South Conference, the aim for all of the four men’s and four women’s teams competing in Pool B will be to finish in the top two of the pool stage and earn them an opportunity to take on the top two men’s and women’s teams from Pool A which is made up of Victorian teams and South Australian Team Dover Square.
South Australian team the NETA Knights will start their ATL journey on their home courts at Tea Tree Gully. The Knights will be headlined by rising youngster Brad Mousley who has rocketed up the rankings over the past six months to sit inside the top 600 in the world. Mousley will be hard to stop at number one singles and will be joined by fellow South Aussies Darren Polkinghorne, Sam Longhurst and Damian Farinola who have all been touring over the past few months.
The Knights will be looking to get off to a strong start against fellow South Australian team The Drive, The Drive who play out of Memorial Drive have been in the ATL since its inception and are the 2014 South West ATL Conference Champions. The Drive will be hoping rising star Thanasi Kokkinakis can recover from his injury concerns to be part of the ATL action over the weekend as his inclusion will bolster the team’s chances significantly. Also part of The Drive line up is Queenslander Ryan Agar and South Aussie Paul Kramberger however, it is young gun Daniel Hobart who could prove to be the key as his big game will suit the grass courts being used for rounds two and three.
Also up the sleeve of The Drive is the experience of South Australian tennis champs Luke Smith and Colin Ebelthite. Smith and Ebelthite will be a daunting prospect in the doubles and may front up for singles match on the grass.
The Tasmanian Devils men’s team will be hoping number one player Harry Bourchier can bring his best tennis to Adelaide and get them off to a strong start, Bourchier who cracked the top 500 in the world last month will be helped by his older brother Edward Bouchier who recently earned his first ATP singles ranking point. The Bourchier brothers will also need strong support from James Bolzonello and young gun wildcard Thomas Youl.
The Devils men will take on WA team the Western Wildlings, the Wildlings will be without star player Matthew Ebden but will still be strong opposition for their opponents with Zach Itzstein and Alexei Chijoff-Evans leading their team. With two rounds played on grass the Wildlings will fancy their chances. Strong form from Brenton Bacon and Scott Jones in their State League means they are well positioned to make a raid on the ATL rounds this weekend.
In the women’s event, South Australian team the Kensington Wildcats will be looking to make their mark in their first year in the ATL competition. The Wildcats will be hoping South Australia’s top player Nicole Collie is able to bring her best form to the team and Collie will need to lead a team of youngsters including Nicole Kraemer, Chloe Hule, Petra Hule and Sophia Fry.
Up against the Wildcats in round one is another first year ATL team, the Prospect Flames, the Flames have recruited well with American Jennifer Elie at number one singles. Prospect also have strong depth with Olivia Ley, Elyse Edwards and youngsters Amber Marshall, Brooke Milner and Maddi Bishop also part of the team.
The Western Wildlings ladies team will also take on the Tassie Devils first up with the Wildlings hoping Jess Moore is able to some damage as one of their leading players. The Wildlings strength will be their depth with young gun Maddison Inglis and former top 200 player Bojana Bobusic also in their line-up.
The Devils will not let the Wildlings have it all their own way in round one and will be looking for Catherine Kruger, Sanyukta Singh and Jessica Zaviacic to cause an upset in round one.
Following round one matches at Tea Tree Gully on the hard court this Friday night at 6:30pm, matches will be played at Kensington Garden Lawn Tennis Club at 4pm Saturday and round three played at Next Generation, Memorial Drive at 12:30pm Sunday.
Entry to all ATL rounds is free and spectators are encouraged to come along and enjoy the upbeat atmosphere, music and food. All ATL matches are played using the Fast 4 match format so matches are expected to take two-three hours to complete.
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