Collaroy Tennis Club teams had some wonderful successes in recent Tennis Northern Beaches competitions! Some teams reached the semi-finals while others went on to win their comp.
Wednesday Morning Ladies
By Vera Lachemann
After a few years of being the runners up, we finally succeeded. Vera Lachemann and Deb Johnston, together with Rachel Wilson from Bayview won the TNB Mid Week Ladies Comp final against Mona Vale (Jenny Lyon, Kristen Welsh and Rebecca Shanahan) 6-4, 6-4. It was a close match, but well deserved for Collaroy after not losing a match all comp.!
Wednesday Night Men's
By Kenny Moyle
The Final – you could feel the excitement in the air. Beautiful weather for tennis, 21 degrees with a slight north easterly breezing in from the Pacific. We were expecting a tough match and that was exactly what we got.
Down 1-3 in the first set, Damo & Kenny dug deep and broke straight back. The set was going neck-and-neck and then suddenly, we found ourselves in a tiebreak. The pressure was on. In the previous comp, an injury forced us to retire in the Final, having won 11 from 11 matches. Now once again we were 11 from 11 for this Wednesday Night Men doubles comp but facing another tense moment. What would happen? Would lightening and disaster strike twice?
No. Bang Bang Bang!!! Three great points to open the tiebreak and open up a commanding 3-0 lead. Damo stepped up with an error-free display when it most mattered and suddenly the set was ours. Relief was the overwhelming sensation as our opponents were playing classic serve-volley doubles, piling on the pressure. It was easily our toughest match to date.
Surely we'd run away with with the Final from here. But no... again we went down 1-3, Kenny losing his serve for the first time after a marathon 7-deuce game. Again coming from behind and under pressure, we broke straight back with four great returns. But it definitely wasn’t easy. We had a few chances to break, but again all held serve and a second set tiebreak ensued. There were some amazing defensive gets by both teams, fighting for everything, but before we knew it, the match was ours! Two great tight sets, with our best tennis coming when it most mattered. We even played an exhibition 3rd set, taking that one 6-1. What a great effort.
Special mention must go to our great reserve Wil, who filled in and never lost a set all comp. What a champion. This was an amazing victory and something to always remember. Wonderful win, but more importantly, great positive enjoyable tennis, played in great spirit. I must say, in 40 odd years of tennis, I have not enjoyed our great sport as much as this year. Great stuff Wil and Damian! May I suggest a deserving promotion to Div. 2 is on the cards? Let’s go 2023!
Thursday Night Mixed
The Thursday Night Mixed pairing of Brendan Jack and Simone Sabadina played solidly throughout the early rounds, winning 7 out of 10 matches. The Collaroy pair finished 2nd on the ladder.
Their true form became evident in the Semi-Final, winning 6-2, 6-1, 6-0 against the team from Bayview. They continued this fantastic form in the Final and convincingly won 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 against Careel Bay. An awesome win Brendan and Simone!
Congratulations and well done to all Collaroy Tennis Club teams! We’re looking forward to more great tennis (and more success) in 2023!
Comments