The 2024 Collaroy Club Championships will conclude this weekend with Finals Day of the Open, Junior and Plate events taking place on Saturday December 7 and the Club Wheelchair Championships on Sunday December 8.
Despite having to dodge some rainy weather, the last two weekends have maintained the incredibly high standard of this year’s Championships and we’re in for some mighty Finals. On Saturday Nov. 23, we witnessed some scintillating tennis, notably in the Men’s Doubles Semi-Final between reigning Champs. Jan and Rob T. and the partnership affectionately known as ‘That Pommy Pair’, Tom and Chris E. Tom actually served for the first set at 5-4, but Jan and Rob refused to buckle and eventually won two enthralling sets, both of which went to tiebreakers!
A scintillating Men's Doubles Semi-Finals
Unfortunately, the defending Champs. are unavailable on Finals Day, and as Club Championship Rules mandate that the team with the closest losing score in their Semi-Final go through to the decider, Tom and Chris get a lucky reprieve and will now play Stuart S. and Damian for the title on Saturday.
The first Ladies Singles Semi-Finals - a spicy encounter
The first of the Ladies Singles Semi-Finals proved to be a spicy encounter, with Kim D. leading comfortably against Colombian firecracker Maria M. in the first set, until a dispute over the score saw Kim lose concentration. Tournament Referee (and dispute resolution specialist) Kenny, managed to calm things down and restore order, and though Maria fought hard all the way, Kim finally prevailed, again in two tight tiebreaker sets.
An upset in the second Ladies Singles semi-Final
There was something of an upset in the second Ladies Singles Semi., when defending Champion Kelly G. took on teenage prodigy Sky. It was a classic case of contrasting styles, with Sky attacking from the outset and Kelly counter punching, defending bravely in almost every rally. The youngster finally took out the match and will now play Kim in Saturday’s Final.
Finally, in another enthralling encounter in the Open Mixed Doubles Semi., the heavily favoured Jan and Janet played husband and wife team Dan & Felicia. Given Felicia has only been playing a relatively short time, the way she attacked the ball in this match, never taking a backward step against her vastly more experienced opponents, was extremely impressive. Jan and Janet took the first set comfortably, but Dan and Felicia put up a great fight in the second.
At one stage, the match had to be stopped due to intruders on the court – a large Huntsman spider tangling with an enraged Spider Wasp, locked in a life and death struggle, reflective of the human battle playing out on court. Both insects were gently removed on a racquet head and deposited in the garden behind Court 6 to continue their conflict. (Note: while Spider Wasps are so called because they hunt spiders, in this instance the Huntsman definitely looked to be well on top).
Jan and Janet eventually proved too strong in an exciting match, but again are unavailable on Finals Day… so Harrison and Maiia just nudge out Dan and Felicia to play defending Champs. Mike B. and Kelly G. in the Final. This will be a replay of the classic Semi. fought out between these two teams, in which the sibling pairing of Mike and Kelly snuck through in a 3rd set match-tiebreak.
In the Men’s Plate event, young Nick L. fought bravely in his semi. against Geoff A., with the latter taking advantage of his age, strength and experience to just win through. Geoff will now play another teenager, Harrison, in the Plate Final. (Will Geoff account for another youngster on his run to the Plate, or will Harrison’s classic modern style prove a bridge too far for the veteran? Stay tuned!)
In the Men’s Open Singles, defending Champ. Chris G. ran our valiant Club Vice-Captain Kenny ragged in their Semi-Final. Though trying valiantly and never surrendering, Kenny failed to make a mark on the scoreboard against a rival recently ranked ITF No. 3 in the world in the 55+ category.
Due to some earlier unavailabilities, the other side of the Men’s Singles draw was completed on a soggy Saturday November 30. Last year's Runner Up, Michal, played ‘Tom the Pom’ in a Quarter-Final and although the 24 year old former coach hit some of the best shots of the match, the wily veteran (currently with an ITF world singles ranking of 32 in the 50+ category) proved far too consistent overall.
Michal then went on to play another world ranked Masters player - new member Albin (current ITF singles ranking of 62 in the 45+ category). The match again provided some sparkling tennis when, after Michal had dominated the first set, Albin came back strongly in the second. But once again, Michal proved the more consistent with a 6-2, 6-4 victory that booked his place in Saturday’s Final against Chris.
Then it was the Juniors’ turn to strut their stuff and the action across all courts showed that the future of Collaroy is in safe hands. Our Junior Tourney is increasingly popular as players now earn UTR (Universal Tennis Ranking) points for every result.
We have some extraordinary players in our Junior ranks (thanks in the main to great coaching by the Evolve Team), among them both national and state junior champions. Names like Jesse Singh, Ella Deaves, Gabrielle Chan and the Lorusso siblings (Nick, Vito and Anabella) may not be well known yet… but it’s only a matter of time.
While established Junior Members like Emilie Chen (14/u girls’ singles national title holder) and Vesna Marinkov (14/u girls’ doubles national title holder with Emilie) were unavailable this year, the tennis on display remained of a high quality. As an example, the match between Gabrielle and Ella was a classic, the former triumphing 6-7, 6-2 and finally 10-7 in the 3rd set match-tiebreak. Both girls hit crushing groundstrokes for their size and fought hard for every point. The diminutive Gabrielle has a forehand that would be the envy of many older, taller and stronger players. Watch out for her as she grows.
Famed 2WS ‘Eye in the Sky’ traffic reporter, Vic Lorusso, was a proud spectator as his three kids gave it their all and came up with some great wins. But the star of the show was again Sky, who cut a swathe through all comers to reach the Final of the Junior Girls – her 3rd Final of the tournament! There are still a couple of matches to play out in the Boys’ draw, but Nick L. and Jesse are currently undefeated and look likely to progress to the Final.
Sky has improved every week of the Club Champs. While always having the big forehand to intimidate opponents, she now seems to have added a new level of consistency to her game, and the results have followed. She’s in for a big day on Saturday with two Singles Finals plus the Open Ladies Doubles Final, in which she partners 12 year old pocket rocket, Maiia. These two young Hot Shots will take on defending Champ. Eri and her new partner this year, the big hitting Lauren W.* in what should be a cracker of a match. *Late breaking news: Lauren has broken a bone in her foot and may have to withdraw from Finals Day.
Note: Sky’s Junior Girls Singles Final will start at 10:15am. Finals in all other events will commence at 12 Noon. The full schedule for Finals Day is now available online.
So there will be plenty of great tennis for spectators to enjoy this Saturday, before cutting loose at the Club Christmas Party. Please come along and add to the atmosphere of what will no doubt be a great day at Collaroy.
Wheelchair Championships & Official Opening
But wait! The great tennis and celebrations don’t stop there. The following day, Sunday December 8, we’ll be running the 2nd edition of the Collaroy Tennis Club Wheelchair Championships on our newly re-surfaced Court 4.
Again, we’ll have world-ranked members on show including defending Champ., Isla Gillespie (aged 18) who has a current ITF World Wheelchair Junior Girls ranking of 10 in the world (89 in the Open rankings!) and Rafferty Stevens, currently world ranked 40 among the ITF Wheelchair Junior Boys. Isla became the first Junior Australian female wheelchair player to contest a Grand Slam when she made it through to the Quarter-Finals of this year’s US Open. Read Isla's story here
The tennis on show will be outstanding and to top it off, we’ll have the official opening of our newly re-surfaced cushion acrylic hard court, by Club Sponsor Brendan Pomponio of Belle Property. The new court was prepared by Greenset Worldwide – official supplier of the AO courts to Tennis Australia. It features our Club Logo at the southern end and has already been given the thumbs up by ATP Pro. player, Chris O’Connell who recently practised on it ahead of the Australian Summer of Tennis. (There’s a rumour doing the rounds that Chris may even turn up on Sunday as part of the celebrations and favour us with a brief exhibition.)
Chris O'Connell and Jordan Thompson at Collaroy
Other dignitaries including Northern Beaches Council Deputy Mayor, Cr. Ruth Robins of our local Narrabeen Ward and State Independent Member for Wakehurst, Michael Regan, will also attend.
See you for the Finals!
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