Even battle expected as Ponds plans to beat Labour Day pains
FINALS action begins today for Tennis Geelong’s Section 1 mixed and men’s competitions, with the winners from the second semi-final to take an extended break due to the Labour Day long weekend.
Ladder leaders Waurn Ponds (mixed) and Leopold (men’s) will start as favourites in their respective matches against Grovedale Yellow and Highton, but a win will mean they won’t return to the court until March 21.
The quirk in the draw could provide a silver lining for the losing sides, but Waurn Ponds captain Nicole Mullen said her team had a contingency for the three-week lay-off if her side wins its final this afternoon.
“We don’t normally hit during the week so it won’t be a bad thing if we end up losing,” Mullen said.
“It will be good to have a hit before the final week because they will have had a break, and it would be good to have that match play before a grand final if we lose.
“But I am sure we will have a few team hits beforehand if we win this week.”
Waurn Ponds and Grovedale split their matches during the year, but with the Ponds finishing higher on the table it means they will host today’s clash.
However, Mullen does not expect any major advantage playing on her home court and said she was anticipating an even battle.
“The first time we played them we lost, and the second time we played them we won, so it is even going into the finals,” she said.
“It will be a good hit and it could go either way but we just have to put balls in the court and hopefully we can get the win.
“Their whole team is pretty strong so no matter which side we play it is going to be tough.
“It is always pretty windy up there because it is so open so we never really have any sort of advantage at all.
“But we had a good lead up to the finish of the season so hopefully we can keep that going in the finals.”