6 August 2012 | Tennis Queensland

Written by Tanya Corbett

In one of the closest Bruce Lynton BMW Rosebowl finals seen for many years, talented Gold Coast coach and player Brett Hunter narrowly defeated veteran and five time winner of the Rosebowl title, Mark Draper to claim the coveted Open men’s title yesterday.

With nothing between the players throughout the final, Hunter, the No. 4 seed, just managed to keep seasoned seventh seed Draper at bay to score a well deserved 4-6 6-2 7-6 win.

The match was highlighted by long, punishing rallies, with both players also making numerous moves into the net.

The match, over two hours in duration, sees Hunter join illustrious names such as Rod Laver, Mal Anderson, Pat Cash, Geoff Masters and Scott Draper as a Rosebowl winner.

During the trophy presentation, Draper was gracious in defeat and thanked Tennis Gold Coast tournament organisers and once again promised to return to the 2013 tournament to try and go for his sixth title win.

Hunter, who had a big cheer squad supporting him on the day, thanked Draper, the sponsors and the crowd for pulling him through in a match that could have easily swung either way for these two highly competitive and seasoned players.

Hunter then went on to win the Men’s Open Doubles partnering with No. 1 seed Logan Mackenzie to win over Jonathon Knowlman and Mitchell Thams 3-6 6-3 10-5, capping off a perfect tournament.

The women’s final saw Lyann Hoang, No. 4 seed win an upset over No. 1 seed Rachel Tredoux with a tight 7-6 6-3 scoreline.

The Women’s Open Doubles final was won by Sophie Letcher and Ebony Panoho 7-5 6-1 against Sarah Brown and Kaylah Mcphee.

Special mention must be made to tournament sponsors Bruce Lynton BMW who has sponsored the tournament 21years consecutively – a fantastic achievement.

For the full results from the tournament, please click here.