Khandallah hit stride in emphatic fashion
With the return of juniors from ITF tournaments, the teams were restored to full strength for the second round of premier interclub tennis on Saturday.
In the women’s competition, last year’s runners-up Khandallah made a strong statement, beating Tawa-Lyndhurst 6-0.
Khandallah No 1 Ivy McLean came through a stern test against spirited Maggie Dai in the match of the day.
When the pair met earlier this year, McLean strolled past Dai 6-1 6-0.
It looked like history would repeat itself early on, with hard-hitting McLean dominating the early exchanges and going up an early break to take out the first set comfortably 6-1.
Dai refused to let the second set go in the same fashion, capitalising on McLean’s unforced errors and upping her aggression to take the second 7-5.
A tense third set brought the best out of both players. With the error count mounting, it would be a test of mental toughness.
The pair traded breaks of serve early but McLean snuck past her tiring opponent towards the end of the third set 7-5.
Thorndon were also ruthless, taking down newcomers Pukerua Bay 6-0 without dropping a set.
Seventeen-year-old Tamara Anderson only dropped one game in her singles match.
Defending champions Paraparaumu surged to the top of the points table with a 4-2 win over Lower Hutt.
In the men’s draw, Miramar made a strong statement, beating Khandallah 4-2 in a high-intensity encounter.
Defending champions Tawa-Lyndhurst dominated Manguaraki 6-0.
Thorndon were missing their No 1 player George Stoupe, but still managed to overcome Wellington 4-2.
Waikanae also produced a solid result to overcome Karori 5-1.
Tawa and Thorndon share the lead in the men’s competition.