Jade lands Auckland tennis title

Marlborough’s top tennis player, Jade Otway, is enjoying plenty of success in adult competition as she makes the step up from age grade tournaments.

At the weekend the 17-year-old took out the prestigious Auckland women's open championship, joining some of NZ tennis’s biggest names on the trophy.

Seeded second, Jade downed Shona Nakano 7-6, 6-1 in the first round, then saw off Mahinarangi Warren 6-0, 6-0 in the semis before beating top seed Vivian Yang 6-2, 6-1 in the final, her excellent serving and consistency off the ground seeing her through in a match which lasted 85 minutes.

During the Canterbury women’s open in mid-November Jade also reached the singles final.

After disposing of Yang 6-4, 6-4 in a tough semifinal she took on top seed Jade Lewis later on the same day.

Their match turned into an epic struggle. After a first set tie-breaker that went the way of Lewis, a niece of NZ tennis great Chris Lewis, Otway took the second set 6-3 but began suffering from cramp in the third after five hours on court, her older rival taking the decider 6-2.

The two Jades met again last Friday during the last round robin of the Caro Bowl interclub competition in Auckland. Again it turned into a battle royal, the 21-year-old prevailing 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in a match that finished around midnight.

Otway's Birthcare team are into the final of the Caro Bowl on Friday night and will play Lewis's Parnell team again, with another rematch on the cards.

Jade Otway said her game was coming together well, despite it being what she described as “a bit of a different year”.

“I haven’t played as many tournaments so I have spent more time actually training … normally it’s hard to find time for that so it has been like a big training block all year, pretty much the opposite of what it normally is.

“I am playing more adult competitions now which is cool.”

Next up for Jade is the 18 national tournament from December 10, then the NZ Open champs in Wellington on December 17-21 then, hopefully, a hometown appearance at the Rapaura Doubles New Year tournament.