Above: Local talent David Fonseca will be part of a powerhouse Springvale North team contesting the Grade Two pennant competition this season.By Glen Atwell
BRING on pennant season.
That was the attitude shared by the top players at Springvale North Tennis Club this week after winning the Waverley and District Tennis Association’s (WDTA) Ron Horne Challenge Cup at Doveton Tennis Club on Saturday.
Club coach Stephen Sruk, Zelko Lovric and 16-year-old Henryk Pawlukowski won the WDTA’s premier summer competition against Nottinghill Pinewood.
The narrow 2-1 rubbers victory was made even sweeter after Sruk and Pawlukowski saved two match points in the final set of the do-or-die doubles match.
With the match tied at one set all, the dynamic duo was down 3-5 and 40-15 in the third set.
Sruk said it looked to be all over, but somehow he and Pawlukowski held on.
“We hadn’t lost a doubles match all season, and we were both pretty tired after our tough singles matches,” he said.
“But we managed to save the match points and fought back to win the final set 7-6.”
The Challenge Cup victory served as great preparation for the upcoming Tennis Victoria pennant season, due to commence on 29 April.
Springvale North has applied to pay in Grade Two after winning the Grade Three sectional grand final last year.
Sruk said this year’s team would be made up of seven players, a sign that the club was ready to push for Grade One in 2008.
Sruk, Lovric and Pawlukowski will join Trent Cobb, Sam Dowler and Stephen Nguyen in the pennant side.
Local talent David Fonseca will also return to the team to press for more pennant success.
Sruk said the players would be rotated based on performance.
“I’m hoping to play between seven and 10 matches, but with a baby on the way my season could be interrupted,” he said.
“Pawlukowski and Fonseca will be playing singles pretty regularly.
“Winning the premier summer competition was a great lead-up to the start of the pennant season.
“With a few weeks’ break now a few of the guys are playing in tournaments, but I’m happy to have a bit of a break,” said Sruk, who coaches more than 100 players each and every week.
