Rosebowl sets scene for Invictus
THE Australian Invictus Games tennis team has put on a show at the Rosebowl Championships on the Gold Coast as the players intensify their preparations for the showpiece event.
Players competed under the watchful eye of coach Daniel Jeffery in vying for the Rose- bowl wheelchair singles title yesterday at Queens Park, with Stewart Sherman defeating Jamie Tanner in the final in a reversal of the duo’s result during the round robin phase.
“We’re all that close with the skill level in the team that you could flip a coin,” said Jeffery, who competed at Games in London, Orlando and Toronto.
“It just so happened the way that it worked out the only competitors were the Invictus crew but that was all good; even though we are all mates, we’re still pretty fierce competitors on the sporting field.”
The Invictus team will compete at the International Tennis Federation-level Canberra Open next month before contesting the 2018 Sydney Games on October 20-27.
In other categories, open men’s top seed Calum Puttergill cruised to the Rosebowl trophy without dropping a set.
Puttergill defeated 2017 finalist Nash Vollenweider in the semis before accounting for Patrick Kotan 6-4 6-1 in the title match.
There was a boilover in the women’s draw, however, as third seed Andjela Djokovic upset No.1 Elizabeth James 6-3 6-2 in the final.