15 December 2020 | Tennis Tasmania

The opening
long weekend of the inaugural Junior Universal
Tennis Rankings (UTR) State Performance Championships saw champions from
the 12/u and 16/u age groups crowned at the Domain Tennis Centre on Sunday.

The event replaces the annual December Showdown this year due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19 and state border restrictions, and is part of a new series of events taking place across seven Australian states and territories this month.

Launceston’s Oliver Hadley and Hobart’s Alicia Dale were the standout competitors in the 16/u division, with the duo claiming the boys and girls singles titles respectively. 

Hadley (pictured above) then paired up with Hobart’s Ben Fergusson to take out the doubles crown, with Dale following suit in the girls doubles alongside singles runner-up Brooke Miller.

The 12/u division saw Launceston’s Oliver Carswell and Hobart’s Olivia Wilkinson also triumph in their singles and doubles events.

Tournament Director Matthew Scott declared the weekend a success and praised the standard and sportsmanship displayed across the three days of competition.

 “It’s been a big year and it’s been amazing to
be able to finish 2020 with our top-tier junior event,” he said.

“There has
been some quality tennis across the two divisions so far, and we’re looking
forward to finishing strongly with the 14/u and 18/u age groups this coming
weekend.”

Universal
Tennis Rating (UTR) is a purely results-based global rating system which rates
all players on the same 16-point scale regardless of age, gender or location.

The first UTR event was held in Tasmania in July as an alternative to Australian Ranking Tournaments, which will return from 1 January 2021 after being suspended due to COVID-19 restrictions.

“Ever since
UTR has launched in Tassie, everyone has reacted positively by jumping on
board, creating their profiles and competing,” Scott said.

“A lot of the clubs in the state have engaged with this platform to run their events, which provides opportunities for players to build their rankings and encourages level-based play.”

With the 14/u and 18/u divisions to be held from Friday 18 – Sunday 20 December at the Domain Tennis Centre to conclude the Championships, Scott said he was looking forward to seeing the event grow statewide in the future.

“This is
the inaugural event in Tasmania, with similar ones being held all over
Australia,” he said. 

“We plan to
run this annually in December, with the plan for a different region of the
state to host each year.’

“It provides a great opportunity for the community to support local tennis and to get around this event, which we see as being quite a prestigious one for years to come.”

Junior UTR State Performance Championships 12/u & 16/u Results:

Event	Winner	Runner-up
12/u boys singles	Oliver Carswell	Ethan Clemons
12/u girls singles	Olivia Wilkinson	Lucy Bouwmeester
12/u boys doubles	Oliver Carswell & Ethan Clemons	William Jeffs & Peter Mackey
12/u girls doubles	Zara Tsiakis & Olivia Wilkinson	Lucy Bouwmeester & Zali Elliot
16/u boys singles	Oliver Hadley	Edison Lee
16/u girls singles	Alicia Dale	Brooke Miller
16/u boys doubles	Ben Fergusson & Oliver Hadley	Jack Akl & Edison Lee
16/u girl doubles	Alicia Dale & Brooke Miller	Iris Bouwmeester & Hayley Ryan