Manawatu¯ tennis players have wins at Hawera

While for most people the Christmas and New Year holiday break means a quiet time of the year, for the competitive tennis playing population it is full on.

A group of Manawatu¯ Lawn Tennis Club members headed to the New Zealand Lawn Championships at the natural grass court venue in Hawera, between Christmas and New Year’s Day.

The squad brought back a healthy load of titles.

Ten-year-old Pascual Iniesta achieved what he couldn’t the previous season and won the 10-and-under boys’ singles and doubles titles. Iniesta also managed a runner-up award in the 12-and-under boys’ singles and doubles. While beating the first-seeded player in the process, he eventually lost to another Manawatu¯ player, Matty Leary, in the singles final.

Iniesta and Leary earlier lost in the doubles final to fellow Manawatu¯ pair Travis Christison and Henry Manktelow 10-8 in a super tie break after also beating the top seeds in that event.

Manawatu¯ Lawn Tennis Club player Ella Bayley finished runner-up in the 16-and-under girls’ singles and doubles, where she paired with Alyssa Toland, of Rongotea. The star of the event was top local junior and senior female player Hannah Sutherland Smith, who had a clean sweep in the women’s open events.

Sutherland Smith beat top Taranaki junior Nikayla Barnard in the singles and then teamed up with Bayley in the doubles to claim that title in a tight third-set tie-break.

Hannah and I also won the combines title, where, funnily enough it was the third time for me, with three different partners over the years. I had previously won the same event with Manu Durie and Bridget Dickins, but had also lost a few finals over the past 20 years with many others, including Jill Hall, Nicole Bailey (nee Koch) and Megan Small.

There’s a lot of nostalgia at a tournament I look forward to visiting every year. There are not many tournaments on natural grass courts in modern times and those of us who grew up playing on the surface tend to take advantage of every opportunity.

Sutherland Smith will now head to Auckland for the national 16-and-under individuals’ and teams’ event, where she will lead the Central team as the No 1 player. Top Manawatu¯ under 16-year-old and finalist at the Manawatu¯ Lawn Tennis Club championships Alex Evans will also be heading to this event.

Meanwhile, recent visitor to our club and past Manawatu¯ Lawn Tennis Club champion Paige Hourigan has successfully moved on from her disappointment at not making the main draw of the singles at the ASB Classic in Auckland by, incredibly, making her way into the semifinals of the doubles, with American partner Taylor Townsend. This is a massive achievement by the Turakina local, who is touted to rise close to 300 places in her international doubles ranking as a result.