The inaugural season of Super 10s action is now complete and in the books after another outstanding weekend of Super 10s action.
With the Grand Final set for play it was the Launceston region who took to the courts first on a perfect afternoon for tennis.
Playing off for regional bragging rights it was Team Djokovic managed by James Bolzonello who took the spoils in a gripping affair against Team Murray. With Kim Kachel (manager of project talent at Tennis Australia) on hand both teams played some unbelievable tennis with Kachel impressed by the standard of play and attitude of the young competitors. Buoyed by strong doubles pairings, Team Djokovic led from the outset with Denzel McLean and George Calvert claiming a hard fought 10-3 advantage. Singles was a much tighter affair with Thomas Haan from Team Murray prevailing by 11 games to 2 over William Bennett while the remaining singles matches were a much tighter affair with a few points here and there the difference. In one of the matches of the series it was Jake Elmer (Team Djokovic) prevailing over Alayna Mackirdy (Team Murray) by an 8-5 games advantage. For Team Murray managed by Matthew Carswell it was a great stepping stone and they look to go one further next season.
In the third place playoff it was Team Nadal (managed by Saeed Behjat) who squeaked through a hard fought contest over Team Federer (managed by Jeff Speer) by nine games. Coming strong out of the blocks it was Team Federer claiming an early advantage in doubles play. From here Team Nadal stormed back with four tight singles wins. In the two closest matches of the round it was Harry Bayles and Doug Matson (Team Nadal) claiming narrow one game victories over Jack Wickham and Angus Foster respectively. With Ollie Gibson’s strong performance at line four, Team Nadal claimed the win and third place. With the closeness of this competition evident, both teams were excited about claiming top honours in the next season of Super 10s. Over the grand final weekend the following awards were given;
- Barty Award – Great movement – Stuart Lake
- Stosur Award – Aggression and risk taker – Thomas Haan
- Ebden Award – Sportsmanship and focused on improvement – Jake Elmer
- Matosevic Award – Tactical Understanding – Max Lewis
On Sunday afternoon it was Hobart which took centre stage for the Super 10s Grand Final. With the matches deadlocked at three all it was Team Federer managed by Tony Blom claiming a 55-28 games advantage over Team Djokovic (managed by John Playle). Team Federer carried dominant wins by Jed Plunkett-Smith and Joseph Kelly respectively while for Team Djokovic Ben Fergusson and Sebastian Giannis claimed impressive victories both in doubles (together) and singles. In the match of the round it was doubles duo Ben Fergusson and Sebastian Giannis (Djokovic) prevailing just over Elleni Kothris and Ollie Pridmore 8 games to 5. With this impressive result Team Federer celebrated while Team Djokovic will come back bigger and stronger next season.
In the match to vie for third place Team Murray (managed by Michiel Conallin) prevailed over Team Nadal (managed by Nick Martin) by a 47-31 advantage. It was Team Nadal carrying a narrow one game lead into singles action with Mark Elkerton and William Simaan (Team Nadal) defeating Victoria Fish and Hariette Browning by 6 games to 5. Team Murray kicked into gear in singles action claiming three out of the four contests. Hamish Hibberd claimed a 10-2 advantage over Ashleigh Turner while for Team Nadal William Simaan outlasted Hariette Browning by 7-2. Both Teams are very excited for the next instalment of Super 10s with the following awards being presented;
- Hewitt Award – Competitiveness, attitude and hard work – Mark Elkerton
- Dellacqua Award – Technical proficiency – Joseph Kelly
- Ebden Award – Sportsmanship and focused on improvement – Victoria Fish
- Stosur Award – Aggression and risk taker – James Giannis
- Barty Award – Great movement – Ashleigh Turner
- Duckworth Award – Sportsmanship and on court behaviour – Jed Plunkett-Smith
We would like to thanks everyone involved for providing such an exciting and entertaining Super 10s season. Coaches relished the opportunity to be able to view their pupils in a real match environment while players were able to gain new insight into tactical and technical proficiency. We are very excited to announce the next instalment of Super 10s shortly.
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