Singles Semi-final wrap-up
A steamy Darwin Saturday saw the singles semi-finals of the 2023 NT Tennis International played out at the Darwin International Tennis Centre.
First up, Australian wildcard Jayden Court took on sixth seeded Jake Delaney with both players aiming to make their first ITF singles final. Delaney took a close first set 7-5 and was looking the goods after taking a 5-2 lead in the second.
Court was able to turn on his big serve to fight his way back into the match, serving 9 aces in the second set to win it 7-5. Delaney kept his cool to run away with the final set 6-1 and reach his first final of a $25k pro event.
2023 Darwin International champion Blake Mott then took on unseeded Kody Pearson in the second semi-final and played ruthlessly, hitting lethal winners from the baseline. Mott never let Pearson into the match, taking it out 6-1 6-1.
Mens Doubles Finals won
The Doubles event then concluded with the Australian/New Zealand pair of Thomas Fancutt and Ajeet Rai took just under an hour to defeat the second seeded team Blake Bayldon and Brandon Walkin 6-1 6-4.
Fancutt made it back-to-back doubles titles in the 2023 Darwin campaign having won the title last week with Australian Jeremy Beale.
Mens Singles Final Sunday 24 September starts at 3pm
The final of the 2023 NT International kicks off Sunday 3pm with free entry at the Darwin International Tennis Centre.
Fifth seeded Blake Mott is gunning for back-to-back titles in Darwin and 10 straight singles victories as well as another Darwin trophy to add to his 2019 title. Mott goes into the final with a strong record this week, having lost only 13 games in four matches leading up to the final. Jake Delaney, meanwhile, will have nothing to lose in this ITF final debut.
Full results, schedules and player profiles at https://www.itftennis.com/en/tournament/m25-darwin/aus/2023/m-itf-aus-09a-2023/
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