Over the past few weeks Yarrawonga Lawn Tennis Club has held its Club Championships.
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Due to increased membership and therefore increased players, the events were hotly contested with exceptionally large fields in many events.
In the premier event, the Open Singles siblings Jack Bassett and Lucy Bassett were again triumphant. This is a unique record and it is appropriate recognition as both have given back a fair bit to the club over the years.
In the Mens Singles Jack played Damian Cook in a very entertaining final. Both were involved in some very impressive rallies that left the crowd in attendance in awe.
Each set was tight before Jack was able to take the title 6/2, 6/3. This is Jack’s fifth consecutive Club Championship and aged 19 he potentially could win a few more.
Sisters Lucy Bassett and Tess Bassett played off in the Ladies Singles. Both played some very good tennis and the match was very good to watch.
Both were generous with their line calls which indicated the spirit the final was played in. After over two hours of tennis Lucy was able to secure the win 6/4, 6/3.
Lucy has now won four Club Championships which is an excellent achievement at the age of 17.
The 35+ Singles events had some of the largest fields in recent years. In the Mens final Damian Cook had a victory over Aidan Humphry. It was a good contest but the younger Damian who has recently entered the age group claiming his first title.
The Ladies final was between Ellen Bruce and Renee Byrne. The match was tight but Ellen proved a little too consistent. This is Ellen’s thirteenth 35+ title and coupled with ten Open Singles title she is certainly a legend of our club.
The Open Doubles events were enjoyed by all who participated. In the Open Mens Doubles the final was contest between Jack Bassett and Fraser Bennett against Aidan Humphry partnered with Ash Wheaton. Youth prevailed on the day with Jack and Fraser winning.
In the Ladies Open Doubles sisters Lucy Bassett and Tess Bassett combined against Amy Lairson and Renee Byrne. In a close final Lucy and Tess were able to just sneak away.
The 18/U Singles is the premier junior event and there was some good tennis played in the lead up to the finals. The boys final was an absolute classic with Xavier Chessells in great early form to win the first set 6/1 before Thomas Lawrence fought back hard to win the second set 7/6.
In epic super tiebreaker Xavier was able to take victory 10/8 to win hist first 18/U Singles title. In the Girls Final Lucy Bassett played Tess Bassett.
Older sister Lucy proved a little too strong to win her sixth 18/U Singles title.
The Junior Club Championships began on Saturday, February 22 and some events took a few weeks to complete due to the size of the fields.
In some events there were up to 28 players and to win these events players had to win five matches.
In the boys divisions, Xavier Chessells proved his class by winning both the 14/U and 16/U finals as well as the 18/U title.
Xavier beat Thomas Lawrence in the 14/U and Harry Wren in the 16/U. Jimmy Robinson was the winner in the 12/U over Tully Ellis is a great match. Tully was victorious in the 10/U division over Lenny Robinson.
In the girls divisions, Tess Bassett beat Ella Lewis in a tight 16/U encounter. The 14/U final between Billie Buerckner and Kiera Buerckner was a sensational match with Billie winning in a tiebreaker.
The 12/U title was won by Annabelle Buerckner after a tight battle with Eliza Lawrence. In the 10/U division Poppy Robinson beat Lucinda Moar after a long match.
Clubperson of the Year
Congratulations to Gert Brunner who was announced as Clubperson of the Year for 2024/25.
Gert’s contribution to the club is amazing. She is responsible for so much at the club from ensuring tennis balls are ordered, the bar is stocked and much more.
As a quiet achiever Gert does so much around the club ensuring everything runs smoothly. All visitors to the club know Gert and she is a truly worthy winner of this award.
Saturday morning tennis
The final Saturday morning junior tennis was another great morning. Every week over 200 players have enjoyed learning a skill for life in a fun environment.
The Hot Shot players now are able to consistently hit both forehands and backhands and they all improved rapidly.
The coaching groups all had significant improvement with many players graduating to match play during the year. Most of the players left in coaching will move to matches next year.
Match play participants finished the year with Parent/Child Doubles. This event is the traditional finale to the season and the courts were filled with players having a great time.
It was great to see so many parents, grandparents, relatives or friends jumping on court to allow the juniors some fantastic memories. Fortunately, no injuries were reported by the older players reliving their youth.
Each week the number of games won by each player were recorded to recognise the most outstanding players each years.
Both boys and girls divisions were exceptionally close testament to the fantastic tennis played all season.
In the boys the top four were Ernie Buerckner, Thomas Lawrence, Jimmy Robinson and Theo Vodusek. In the girls the top four were Annabelle Buerckner, Lily Leslie, Maddi Marett and Taylah Chessells.
Two players were also identified as the most improved juniors for the year. The winners this year were Maya Isaac and Tague Saunders who have both really developed their games this year.
The Sportsmanship Award was presented to Anthony Nieuwenhout who consistently displays a fair and consistent attitude every week.
Thank you so much to all the players who made Saturday mornings so much fun. A special mention to the parents who were ever present either as part of activities, picking up balls or umpiring.
Well done to club coach Greg Duns, Hot Shots Coach Lucy Bassett and all of the other juniors who coached every week.
They were great role models for the youngest members. Thank you to Lisa Linehan, Beth Robinson and Narelle Bassett who were the brains behind the operation every Saturday morning.
These ladies also managed to hand out around 3000 icy poles during the season.
A final thank you to Les Garbutt who was there every week taking action photos. His dedication to local sport and especially junior local sport is sensational.
Yarrawonga Chronicle