Tennis finals series

St Michaels and Kalkee will go head to head for a Central Wimmera Tennis Association grand-final berth when the competition’s 2019-20 finals series starts at the weekend.

St Michaels has been the benchmark side all season, with the Kees working their way up the ladder to finish second when it counted.

Saturday’s semi-final, on St Michaels’ home court, will be a rematch between last year’s grand finalists.

Last year, Kalkee upset St Michaels’ chances of a fourth consecutive pennant premiership, and the Saints will be out to prevent the Kees from going back to back.

The minor premier dropped only one match for the season, via a forfeit to Central Park, while the Kees have a 10-4 winloss ratio. The sides have met twice this season, with their round-one clash decided on games. They last met at the end of November, with the Saints enjoying a four-set win.

St Michaels will start favourite, but with the high stakes on offer, anything can happen.

Drung South and Horsham Lawn Thompson will fight to keep their seasons alive in a semi-final clash at Drung South.

On paper, the teams have had similar seasons, each claiming nine wins throughout the competition.

The Drungsters got the better of Lawn during their first encounter in November, triumphing by two sets. The pair last met in February, playing out a draw, 6-72 apiece. Drung South was bailed out of finals in the first round last season and will look to go a step further on Saturday. This match will be a thriller and likely to go down to the wire. The winner will play the loser of the first semi-final in a preliminary final at Central Park on March 21. Haven Tennis Club will host the grand final on March 28. In A Special action, Homers will host Noradjuha for a spot in the grand final and Haven and Central Park will meet in a do-or-die clash. Both matches will be at Haven.

Horsham Lawn’s Savage and O’connor teams will battle it out in an A Grade semi-final at home, with the other final between Haven Blue and Central Park Blue at Haven.