Manawatu¯ dominate Tennis Eastern
Manawatu¯ fielded arguably the strongest senior representative team in recent history and was rewarded with a win against a competitive Tennis Eastern (Hawke’s Bay) side.
As little as five years ago I was having to front up as the No1 male for our senior side in provincial fixtures. At the Manawatu¯ Lawn Tennis Club in Palmerston North on Sunday, however, for the first time since my senior representative debut 17 years ago, I didn’t make the singles lineup and instead was used as a doubles specialist and team captain.
The Manawatu¯ women were also at perhaps the highest level they have ever been, with a combination of newcomers to the region and a long list of homegrown talent filling the positions.
As it was with the men’s side of the team, many good local female players didn’t manage to make the top-six list, or were otherwise unavailable. To have a former top New Caledonian player listed at No 6 in the Manawatu¯ team is a luxury we haven’t had in a long time.
It turned out to be a dominant 17-7 win by the home Manawatu¯ side against a Tennis Eastern team who were slightly stronger than the side that Manawatu¯ edged to a 12-12 draw last season.
The men’s matches were fairly even. Manawatu¯ ’s No1 Victor Romero was made to work hard initially in his 6-4, 6-2 win over Tennis Eastern’s opposite Luke Donovan. Kurt Mcnamara scored a big win with his 7-5, 6-4 victory over former top New Zealand player Dan Willman in the No 2 spot.
Tennis Eastern took command through the middle, with their 3rd, 4th and 5th players Rynold Timothy, Craig Giddy and Hamish Lee all scoring wins over their Manawatu¯ counterparts Kurt Amey, Gareth Toland and Caleb Young, respectively.
Local player Terry Lee celebrated his recall to representative duties with a 1-6, 6-1, 10-5 win over Jac Wardrope.
The Manawatu¯ women were barely pushed, which was to be expected, by their Eastern opponents. Hannah Sutherland Smith led the team from the front with a 6-3, 6-4 win over equally ranked opponent Jane Wylie.
Jennifer Green showed her level of class in a clinical 6-0, 6-0 win over Eastern No 2 Sophia Nash. The rest of the women’s matches went in similar fashion. Bridget Dickins, Ella Marshall, Ella Wells and Caroline Andrieux all secured relatively one-sided victories in their singles over Sam Cave, Alex Cave, Fi Tyler and Abby Oliver.
At the completion of the singles matches, Manawatu¯ had a rare, but commanding, 9-3 lead heading into the doubles section.
The doubles were more even and finished 3-3.
Eastern dominated the men’s doubles – Manawatu¯ ’s only win came from a 6-4, 6-1 victory by local coaches Mcnamara and Jono Spring over Eastern coaches Rynold Timothy and Craig Giddy.
Manawatu¯ , however, won most of the women’s doubles matches, with Eastern’s only victory coming in a toughly fought tussle where Tracey Skilton and Nash shaded Ella Marshall and Ella Wells 6-2, 3-6, 10-5.
The score before the combines sat at 12-6 and Eastern had to win all six remaining matches to force an unlikely draw.
Knowing that anything is possible in representative tennis, the Manawatu¯ side didn’t approach the remaining matches lightly and pushed hard to the finish line.
As they had done all day, the female Manawatu¯ players proved to be the difference for the local side, winning five of the final six matches.
Manawatu¯ youngster Alex Evans managed his first representative callup in the best way possible, with a nail-biting 7-5, 6-4 win with Dickins in the No 2 combines over Timothy and Tyler.
Two other close encounters went the way of Manawatu¯ . Mcnamara and Marshall won the top combines in a third-set tiebreak over Donovan and Wylie and Spring and Wells managed the same result over Eastern’s Lee and Skilton.
It was a successful start to the representative calendar for the Manawatu¯ senior team, with their next fixture not being held until February 2019, when they face current Christie Cup holders Taranaki.
Manawatu¯ will hope to avenge their thrilling 13-11 defeat to Taranaki last season, when they lost the Christie Cup. The February fixture will be a home tie for Manawatu¯ .