Premier tennis features tight matches

Rapaura Wairau River Noir and Marlborough Forrest Wines drew first blood when the opening round of the 2021 Marlborough division one premier interclub tennis competition was played on Wednesday evening.

Rapaura narrowly came out on top in a close tussle with Renwick, prevailing 7-6 on a sets countback after the matches were tied at 3-3.

Joseph Sandford-Jury, Brendon Sutherland and Darin Herd won singles for Renwick, Sutherland’s victory coming in an epic 2-6, 6-3, 10-7 battle with Glen Cameron, the set that Cameron won making the difference on countback.

Rapaura’s Donna Clark won the ladies single, then paired with Owen Dodson for a win in the mixed. Hugh Robinson and Cameron combined well to win a vital men’s double over Sutherland and Sandford-Jury 6-4, 6-1.

The other division one clash was more clear-cut, singles wins to Chris Nott and Amber Lyons, plus doubles victories to Hamish Morrow and Chris Nott, then Stephen Dempster and Lyons in the mixed, securing a 4-2 win to Marlborough over Rapaura Wairau River Blanc.

Ant Walkenhorst, with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Morrow, and Jared Bell secured Blanc’s points.

The closest match of the tie was a 7-6, 3-6, 10-3 win to Morrow and Nott against Walkenhorst and Clyde Sowman.

In division two, Marlborough Next Gen scored a 4-2 win over Rapaura Wairau River Rose. Dan Clarke and Luke Marusaki both scored two wins for Next Gen on a night that featured several close encounters, especially in the doubles.

The other division two match was won convincingly by Marlborough Nga Hau Wha who accounted for Renwick Jana 6-0, winning all 12 sets played.