Last night closed off the cracking ALLABOUT BLINDS PALMERSTON OPEN.
The past few days had it all – high entries across all groups which meant loads of tennis action across all ages and levels; spectators cheering the skills of all involved; spectacular sunsets; and a little bit of rain to keep the Officials on their toes.
Tournament Director and Tennis Palmerston Operator / Head Coach Alex Capill was especially happy with the number of kids that entered, and how popular Doubles was across the juniors and social groups. It’s a testament to the club’s massive kids programs, and their encouragement of players at all levels to play matches.
Capill’s trophy presentation to the juniors highlighted this, with him talking with the kids about how matchplay is different to training. It is the best way for them to put their skills into practice and keep improving.
Well done to all of the juniors who participated. It was great to see so many smiles on the court and new friendships formed through matchplay and doubles pairings.
Last night on finals day tennis fans gathered to see the mens open final, and the final matches of the womens open round robin.
Everyone was keen to see how NT newcomer and top seed, Andy (Arnav) Bhardwaj, would fare against second seed Hayden “Mr Consistent” Litis. It was a hard-fought match with lots to get to excited about. The first set was a long one and finished with Litis up.
Litis appeared to be on the march home in the second set ahead a break, but was pushed further by a late break-back in the second set by Bhardwaj. Ultimately, Litis’ trademark consistency won the match, but as he found in the Mindil Beach Casino Resort Gardens Open last weekend, the competition is heating up.
Mens open finalist Andy Bhardwaj arrived in the NT having moved here from interstate the night before the ALLABOUT BLINDS PALMERSTON OPEN began. Well done Andy for jumping in to meet the tennis community through matchplay. In the coming days he will start work alongside Litis at the Darwin International Tennis Centre at Marrara as Head Coach – Centre Manager.
The Womens open final matches were underway, but unfortunately Eva Harris had to retire with an injury – we wish her a very swift recovery. The final match we saw on Saturday night was between Ashlyn Grigg and Grace Henderson.
It was a very tight match, and went late into the evening with both women slugging it out having put in many hours on the court, especially Grigg, who was entered in to many divisions in the tournament across singles and doubles.
Across all draws it was wonderful to see coaches and assistant coaches tennis in the mix, also, the huge number of Court Monitors and trainees. Well done to the crew at Tennis Palmerston for their work and support of each other to make this a smooth event. Their participation and leadership is very inspiring for all who watch and enter these tournaments.
ALLABOUT BLINDS PALMERSTON OPEN – Full Results
Host club: Tennis Palmerston
Tournament Director: Alex Capill (Operator / Head Coach at Tennis Palmerston)
Major Sponsor: Allabout Blinds
We look forward to sharing more tennis news from the MCDONALDS ALICE SPRINGS TOURNAMENTS, the final day is underway at Tennis Alice Springs.
Also, entries are open for the upcoming Katherine Open hosted by the Katherine Tennis Club which runs from Saturday 4 May to Monday 6 May over the May Day long weekend.
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