Players battle through weather

By Paul Pickering
NOT even the wettest weekend of the year could ruin Doveton Tennis Club’s moment in the sun.
The club’s second year as host of the Central Star Waverley Tennis Australian Money Tournament had its interruptions, but the show went on over Cup weekend at Robinson Reserve.
Some 129 players from around the country competed for their share of the $10,000 prize purse, with one-time tour player Daniel Wendler and former Australian junior representative Viktorija Rajicic winning the men’s and women’s singles titles.
Tournament director Lyn Gillen hailed the event as a resounding success, despite the challenges posed by weather during the five-day schedule.
“Weather-wise it was difficult, but the players were all fantastic and very supportive,” she said.
“The level of competition was very even and it was great to see eight interstate players in the draw.”
Matches in the singles and doubles draws were reduced to pro-sets – first to eight games – on Sunday in a bid to clear the backlog, but Tuesday’s finals were played as best-of-three-set encounters.
Interestingly, both Wendler and men’s singles runner-up Robert McKenzie – a Rowville resident who has recently returned from playing college tennis in the US – capitalised on wildcard entries into the tournament.
Hampton East resident Wendler had a relatively easy run through to the final and went on to clinch the decider 6-2 6-2.
Top-seeded Rajicic of Delahey defeated emerging star Gussie O’Sullivan 6-1 6-3 in the women’s singles final, while number-two seeds Kate Antosik and Jessica Humbert upset top fancies Azra Hadzic and Michaela Capannolo 3-6 6-4 10-6 in a dramatic doubles final.
The men’s doubles also went down to the wire, with Queenslanders Travis Dragojlo and Stephen Gort edging out local hopes Louis Robert Miles and Chris Letcher 2-6 6-3 11-9.
The former is currently coaching at Doveton, while Letcher’s father coached at Narre Warren.
It was indeed a big weekend for the Doveton club, which also hosted around 120 budding stars as part of the Junior Development Series.
Gillen was keen to thanks the tournament staff and players for their patience, while also recognising the support of sponsor, Central Star Auto Haus in Berwick.