Canberra Velocity kicked off its Centenary of Canberra celebrations in impressive style by winning its round three matches in the Asia-Pacific Tennis League (ATL) at North Woden today.
Davis Cup debutant Nick Kyrgios spearheaded the men’s team to a 4-2 victory over Stanmore Wyverns, while the women’s team, led by Canberrans Alison Bai and Ashley Keir, beat the NSW-based City Lizards 4-2.
Kyrgios, who became the 103rd player to represent Australia in Davis Cup in September, was dominant in his match against Simon Ede, dropping only three games in the first-to-four games format.
In other singles matches, Jake Eames came from a set down to beat Blazo Djurovic, James Frawley beat former top 100 player Michael Tebbutt 4-2, 2-4, 4-3 (5-3), while Alex Bolt battled gallantly against former world No.1 junior Todd Reid, before losing 0-4, 3-4 (4-5).
The teams split the doubles, with Kyrgios/Bolt beating Ede/Djurovic 4-1, 4-2, and Eames/Frawley losing to Reid/Tebbutt 3-4 (1-5), 1-4.
Nicole Hoynaski got the Velocity women off to a winning start, edging Rebecca Bran 1-4, 4-0, 4-1, before being joined in the winner’s circle by Alison Bai, who prevailed in a hard-fought battle against Lucie Kriegsmannova 1-4, 4-1, 4-1.
Tyra Calderwood and Ashley Keir then took Velocity to an unbeatable 4-0 lead with straight sets victories over Kim Van Der Horst and Tess Engels respectively.
The City Lizards gained some revenge in the doubles winning both matches in the super tiebreak. Kriegsmannova/Engels defeated Bai/Calderwood 4-3 (5-4), 1-4 (10-8), while Beck/Van Der Horst beat Keir/Hoynaski 3-4 (4-5), 4-1 (10-8).
Kyrgios, who has spent most of the year on the road, said he was happy to playing on home soil for once.
“It was a lot of fun to be playing where I grew up and in front of my family and friends. I really enjoyed it,” he said.
“And it’s great to still be in the race for the finals. With the shortened format you can’t come out of the blocks slowly and can’t have any lapse of concentration.”
The men’s team, which remains undefeated in the NSW/ACT Conference after three rounds, faces Macquarie Uni Warriors (David Barclay, Marious Zelba, and Shoki Hachiya) tomorrow. The women, who have one win and one loss in the domestic competition so far, play Sydney Uni Lions, led by Hayley Ericksen, Bianca Chidrawi and Rachel Assef.
Matches start at 2pm.