New venue, same enjoyment, as Rapaura doubles titles decided

The venue may have changed, but enthusiasm levels remained high as the 46^th Wairau River Wines Rapaura Doubles tournament was played out at the Marlborough Tennis Centre over the weekend.

Inclement weather before and during the event prompted a switch of venue for the three-day event, organisers forsaking the grass courts and leafy environs of the Rapaura club for the hard courts at Pollard Park.

However, the shift to a different surface did not detract from the standard of play as 24 mixed doubles combinations did battle on Friday, then 24 men’s doubles duos, plus 15 women’s pairs, lined up on Saturday and Sunday.

On Sunday afternoon, the event culminated in two quality three-set finals to decide the overall victors, both played in great spirit and sportsmanship.

The men’s doubles decider was contested by two accomplished pairings. Lee Harborne, a regular at the event and part of last year’s winning combination, teamed up with top Nelson player Simon Phillips, a previous winner alongside his twin brother Sam in 2019.

They were up against Rai Valley-bred siblings Dene and Glenn Wilson, the latter a former Davis Cup player and captain.

The men’s final turned into a hugely-entertaining encounter, ultimately won 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 by Lee and Simon.

Both duos played a serve and volley game, usually best suited to grass courts, with some spirited exchanges at net and some cleverly-placed lobs often deciding key points.

Glenn showed the skills that took him to the top of NZ tennis in the mid-1990s, while keeping the crowd entertained with repartee and tennis quips.

But ultimately it was Lee and Simon who proved more consistent, relishing the chance to play together after their original partners pulled out.

Lee said they had paid attention to the way their final rivals had played in their semifinal and expected a tough encounter.

“We felt that if we took our chances we would go alright and so it proved.”

Simon said after playing against Glenn “probably 20 years ago” and knowing his doubles prowess “he expected nothing less”.

The winning pair felt all four finalists would have preferred to have played on the grass courts and reckoned a similar match would have ensued, but “it wasn’t to be this year, so we just made the most of it”.

Asked if they would be back next year, Lee doesn’t hesitate. “I think I've probably played about 13 or 14 in a row since I was maybe 12 years old so yeah, I’ll be back.”

Simon, with a young family in Nelson, says he loves the event and also plans to return, maybe when the kids are old enough to watch and cheer on their Dad.

In the semifinals Lee and Simon battled their way past a spirited challenge from Sergey Sanin from Christchurch and the colourful Gavin Mockford from Dunedin, coming away with a 7-6, 6-3 win.

In the other semi the Wilson brothers accounted for the Nelson combination of Claus Reichardt and Oscar Symonds 6-0, 6-4.

The women’s title was taken out by veterans Renny Spruijtenburg and Ruth Seeman, a former professional player. It was a first Rapaura title for both as they mounted a strong comeback to eventually get the better of Christchurch player Casey Fitchett and Dunedin’s Angela Fitzgerald 3-6, 7-6, 6-2.

Ruth who has made a couple of title-less trips to Marlborough for the annual event, leaves with two titles, having wrapped up the mixed crown on Saturday morning.

“I’m very happy with that,” she said. “Today’s doubles final was anybody’s really … although we were ahead in the second set, they came back to make it 6-all and you can toss a coin after that.

“I’m certainly going to come back, it is a great country tournament, especially on the grass as it usually is. It is all about enjoying the tennis at the end of the day and there is a lot of tennis to be had.”

In the semis Casey and Angela defeated Penny Olsen and Vicky Wutzler 6-0, 6-2 while Ruth and Renny beat Jeanette Marston and Kerry Noble 6-1, 6-2.

Doubles

Meanwhile, the mixed doubles trophy has headed west.

In a thrilling and evenly-fought final, played on Saturday morning after rain curtailed play before the decider could be started on Friday, Nelson duo Seeman and Symonds defeated last year’s champions Ella Sowman and Dan Clarke.

The young local pairing took out the first set 6-4 but were outclassed 6-2 in the second by the vastly-experienced Ruth and big-hitting Oscar.

The super tiebreaker was much more evenly-fought before the top-seeded visitors produced some big points to prevail 10-7.

On Friday, Ruth and Oscar downed Sergey and Casey 9-4, while Ella and Dan overcame Felicity Sampson and Dene Wilson 9-3 in the semifinals.

The special plate, for places 9-16, was taken out by Donna Clark and Stu Campbell over Eveline van der Linden and Jaco van Hensbergen. Ben Burridge and Cathy Kitto won the 17th - 24th section beating Joey Beckett and Logan Croad.