14 August 2013 | Tennis Tasmania

We are very happy to report back that the first week of the inaugural Tasmanian Tennis League (TTL) South pilot was a huge success at the Rosny Park Tennis Club this past weekend.

Players relished in the opportunity to play in a team’s competition with a large audience cheering them on as they showed their skill and mettle.

Initially things looked ominous after the Saturday morning round between Richard Wynwood’s South Demons and Rohan Kerr’s South Sharks was moved to Sunday due to inclement weather. After this match was rescheduled it was the Peter Leary led South Devils coming up against Shaun Thomas’ South Tigers in the TTL afternoon session.

After a slight delay the Devils and Tigers took to the court in testing conditions. With number one players headlining the action it was all tied at one with Peter Leary getting the Devils off to a great start with a comfortable 8-2 victory over Shaun Thomas whilst for the Tigers it was Catherine Krueger who claimed an 8-1 dispatch over Victoria Geale. The Tigers used Krueger’s momentum to launch an assault on their opponents with Brad Dunn and Jessica Fowler claiming identical 8-1 victories over Matt Harris and Eliane Fader respectively. The Devils sensed a fight back when Leary and Harris defeated Thomas and Dunn 8-5 but when Krueger and Fowler topped Geale and Fader 8-1 the writing was on the wall. With mixed doubles action concluding proceedings it was the Tigers who piled on the pressure with Thomas and Krueger defeating Leary and Geale 8-4 whilst Dunn and Fowler defeated Harris and Fader 8-3. With the win the South Tigers move to 1-0 whilst the South Devils drop to 0-1 ahead of week two action.

In the final match of the weekend it was the South Sharks eking out a hard fought victory over the South Demons on a gorgeous Sunday morning at Rosny. Kicking off play Kathryn Easther and Nick Fader got the Sharks off to a great start with hard fought wins over Johanna Jones and Remy Lynch respectively. The Demons responded strongly with Sanyukta Singh claiming a comfortable win and in the match of the day it was Richard Wynwood claiming a nail-biting victory over Rohan Kerr in a high quality see-sawing affair. Teams were unable to be separated in doubles action with Wynwood and Lynch defeating Kerr and Fader 8-4 whilst for the Sharks Easther and Coombe defeated Jones and Singh 8-2. With only a few games the difference it came down to the mixed doubles action. After some more phenomenal play it was the Sharks who were able to push away claiming both victories by identical 8-4 score lines. Joining the South Tigers the Sharks stay perfect at 1-0 whilst the Demons will need to respond after the loss.

After both matches were completed it was great to see all players stay behind and socialise whilst enjoying some stories and afternoon tea. All players embraced the sudden death deuce ruling in the doubles and mixed with great sportsmanship and attitudes prevalent throughout the days play. From our perspective it was great to see the older more experienced players playing a mentoring role on their younger team members with many smiles and laughs throughout the days play.

To view results and the upcoming schedule on Competition Planner please click here.

Overall the first week of the TTL pilot was a huge success and we are very excited to bring you the second instalment with the following details;

Saturday 17th August 11am-1.30pm at the Domain Tennis Centre

South Sharks (1-0) Vs South Tigers (1-0)

South Demons (0-1) Vs South Devils (0-1)

Play kicks off at 11am and we look forward to seeing everyone shortly!