The All Stars Tennis Tournament returned for the sixth time in Yarrawonga last week.
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The tournament founder Doug Smith moved to Queensland mid-year. Tennis Victoria agreed to run the event and the efforts of Thomas Floyd as Tournament Director were extremely appreciated. Thomas was full of praise for the conditions of the court and this is testimony to the fantastic groundsman.
Players travelled from throughout southeast Australia for the event and the standard was extremely high.
In the Open Ladies Singles, Shepparton’s Hope Curtis-McDonald made it back-to-back titles with convincing wins in the tournament cumulating with a 6/1, 6/1 win over Caitlyn Vaughan in the final. Top seed Sam Dineen had several tough matches on his way to the final but showed his class to defeat Ethan Dench 6/3, 6/4 in the final.
Locals performed very well in many events. Local star Jack Bassett with partner Jeremy O’Brien won the Open Doubles with a very close super tie breaker in the final. Tess Bassett won the Open Match Play event beating many higher ranked players during the competition.
In the junior singles Taylah Chessells won the 12/U girls with a close win over Annabelle Buerckner. In the 14/U boys singles Xavier Chessells had a great tournament before narrowly losing the final in a super tier breaker.
Ernie Buerckner was runners up in the 10/U boys after playing many matches in a round robin format. Billie Buerckner and Kiera Buerckner combined well to finish runners up in the 14/U girls doubles.
This event was well supported by a range of local sponsors and their ongoing support is appreciated. The canteen was run by Yarrawonga Lions and once again they were amazing with sensational food and even better banter with the players.
Tennis Victoria have committed to running the All Stars Tournament in 2026 and plans are already underway in relation to the event.
Easter Tournament
Preparations are underway for the 126th Easter Tournament. Whilst the event does not start until Friday April 18, entries have been flooding in. The capacity is getting very close and members are encouraged to enter immediately if they want to play.
This tournament will have between 1250 and 1350 players involved over the four days. It is an incredible event.
Tuesday Mens Tennis
The first round of Mens Tennis after the Christmas break was completed in very warm conditions. With a few unavailable, the fill-in list was well used. The standard of tennis was high with all players keen to impress. At the end of the night play was discussed over a pizza and a refreshments on the deck.
In the first match of the night top placed Nadal showed their class with a 4 to 2 sets win over Sampras. Dave Porter was in great form winning all of his matches.
Federer have clearly been hitting the practice courts with a convincing 5 sets to 1 win over Edberg. Damian Cook and Gareth Oughton combined well to be undefeated.
In the match of the night Djokovic and Agassi split the sets 3 all before Djokovic were winners by 4 games. Daryl Bennett was again the star not dropping a set.
Connors and Wilander had many close matches before Connors clinched the win 4 sets to 2. Ben Cope was best on court dominating all of his sets.
The score was repeated between McEnroe and Becker with McEnroe winning 4 sets to 2. Arron Robinson in his debut season won all of his sets.
Lendl and Borg finished the round of matches with Lendl winning 4 sets to 2. Indicating how close the night was no player won all of their matches.
The ladder after Round 7 is Nadal 39, McEnroe 37, Federer 35, Laver 35, Federer 28, Connors 31, Sampras 29, Agassi 27, Lendl 26, Djokovic 23, Borg 22, Wilander 21, Edberg 20, Becker 19.
Goulburn Murray Tennis
Division 2 of Goulburn Murray Tennis resumed on Saturday. Daryl Bennett representing Cobram won two of his three matches with his team losing 7 sets to 4 against Tatura.
Playing for Numurkah Tess Bassett travelled to Euroa. Euroa were very strong and won the match 9 sets to 2.
Rock up and play
There are two sessions a week where players can come for a hit. Tuesday mornings is when the ladies have a hit and Wednesday is for the men. Both groups commence at 9.00 am. These mornings are very social and new players are always welcome.
Junior Tennis
Saturday mornings at the courts is simply unbelievable to see. Each week over 200 kids learning a sport they can play for life and creating lifelong friendships. Tennis Victoria are in awe of Saturday program and the sheer number of players is simply not seen at other clubs.
The program caters from players from 5 to 15. They start their journey in the Hot Shots program where they learn the fundamentals in a fun way.
The next step is coaching which builds on the skills and prepares the players to participate in matches. Match play is the final piece of the puzzle and with a mixture of events including the Premier League event which is very popular.
Saturday juniors will resume on Saturday February 1 and continue through until Saturday March 22.
Wilby Tennis
The iconic Wilby and District Tennis Association has had a fantastic start to the season. Local hamlets battle it out each week with some very good tennis played but more importantly a lot of laughs with great social connections.
The highlight each week is the number of juniors playing which bodes well for the future of the competition.
After round 9 the ladder is Tungamah Green 56, Telford 52, Burramine 50, Mulwala Gold 37, Wilby 36, Mulwala Maroon 25, Tungamah Gold 22 and Savernake 10.
This competition will resume on January 31.
Thursday Ladies Tennis
Over the past few years there have been two short competitions each season for the Thursday Ladies. This season the first competition commenced slightly earlier than in the past and this this allowed 7 weeks of tennis to be played.
Despite some inclement weather on other days, every single Thursday the conditions were perfect and the ladies had a hit.
Numbers were higher than the past with more teams than normal and even more on the fill-in list. The second season will commence on Thursday, February 6.
North East Veterans
The North East Veterans Circuit has a hiatus over the break. This is very popular with members and Yarrawonga is always well represented. These events cater for players 35 plus and entry is made individually.
From this groups of similar abilities are created and doubles is played. The next event in this in this circuit is at Benalla on February 2.
Godfathers Tournament
Each year the Godfathers kindly sponsor the junior tennis tournament in February. This year this tournament will be held on Sunday, February 16. All matches played on the day are singles and with a round robin format every player is guaranteed at least three sets.
The age groups for the tournament are 8/U, 10/U, 12/U, 14/U and 16/U. This tournament is designed for the Saturday morning players to have another hit. Each year players from out of town also play and this provides the chance to meet some more people.
The tournament commences at 9am and is usually finished by lunch.
Club Championships
The prestigious Club Championships will be held as usual on the last weekend of February.
The junior age groups are 10/U, 12/U, 14/U and 16/U with players able to play in two age groups. All events are singles.
Juniors will commence on Saturday, February 22 and will replace the regular match play. Due to the high numbers this will not be able to be completed in one day.
Therefore players still left in the events will finish on Sunday, February 23. Please note this is different to previous years so please keep this weekend free.
The seniors will be played on Sunday, February 23.
This day consists of Open, 18/U and 35+ singles and well as Open Doubles. Again keep this date free.
Yarrawonga Chronicle