17 November 2015 | Tennis Queensland

The first edition of the Gold Coast Tennis League (GCTL) came to a close on Sunday with the finals being held at Queens Park Tennis Centre. In an exciting high-class final the GCS Giants prevailed over the hosts Tennis Plus Dynamite to claim $5,000 in prize money and a spot at the State League Final at the Brisbane International in January.

You could not have asked for a better day for the Gold Coast Tennis League finals with the sun providing the stage for the final matches of the 2015 season of the new marquee league. After being able to claim the top two spots in a rain-plagued last tie the week earlier, both teams headed into the final with high hopes and their best players suiting up for their teams one last time this season. The match started on par with the Giants taking the men’s doubles and No1 singles matchups while the Dynamite claimed the ladies’ doubles and No1 singles in straight sets each.

The third rounds of matches saw the scales tip slightly in favor of the Giants with Helen Parsons saving two back-to-back set points and winning the deciding point of a the set tie-break against youngster Olivia Gadecki. While the 13-year old went on to win the match in 3 sets, the Giants went up on the scoresheet as Carl Bozicevic defeated Daniel Birak with a gutsy performance in straight sets putting a lot of pressure on the Dynamites mixed doubles pairs to close out the match.

The match stayed close with both mixed doubles rubbers reaching a first set tie-breaker. The experience of Seniors Bozicevic and Parsons paid off against Dynamite-pair Gadecki and Hugh Clarke. In the other match-up the 2015 Wendy Turnbull medalist Kimberly Birrell and her partner Gavin Vickers couldn’t hold off the thunderous serves of Lachlan Treacher who took the tie-break and the rubber with his partner Kaylene Tunny. Treacher and Bozicevic led the way, eventually claiming all of the required five rubbers and assuring victory for the Giants. While Birrell and Gadecki showed strong form in the first part of the match they and their team had to settle for second place and a cheque for $2,500 in prize money.

The day for Lachlan Treacher got even better being voted Most Valuable Player by GCTL team managers and receiving the awards in the awards ceremony after the match. Beenleigh Blaze player Chantel Jamieson received MVP honors in the female category after falling 7 rubbers to 1 to the Hinterland Hurricanes in the playoff match for third place. Jamieson took the only rubber for the Blaze who missed three of their starters in this match while the Hurricanes made a convincing come-back after just missing out on the Finals losing their only two conference matches in shortened matches due to rain. Finishing on the podium they were able to take home $1,500 prize money as a consolation.

In the play-off match for fifth place favourites Palm Beach Panthers held off GCA Gladiators in a very tight match. The Panthers just held on to victory tying the match at four rubbers all but winning one more set than the Gladiators.

By winning the maiden GCTL title the Gold Coast Senior Giants have qualified for the State League Final where they will play off against the winners of the Brisbane Tennis League and the Northern Tennis League. While the Kalynda Chase Cavaliers already claimed their NTL title in May this year, the BGS Bulldogs claimed the BTL trophy on Sunday as well with a win over the UQ Saints. The State Final will be played from January 3 to January 5 at Queensland Tennis Centre during the Brisbane International.