SOMERTON Park, Rostrevor and the Woodville-Glengarry Wanderers have moved a step closer to a date with Melbourne Park and the Australian Open after winning their opening round men’s National Tennis League SA division matches over night.

One the women’s side, Trinity, Memorial Drive and the Flagstaff Freighters all won their opening matches.

The winner of the SA division of the men’s and women’s competitions will progress to the national finals, which will be played at Melbourne Park during the Australian Open.

To view a phot gallery of last night’s matches, click here.

On the men’s side, it was guest professional Dejan Petrovic who pulled off a clutch win at the No.1 single to kick-start the Wanderers five runners, 11 sets, 44 games to one rubber, three sets, 24 games win over the Tigers.

Petrovic came from a set down and then recovered from 1-5 in a deciding third set tiebreak to beat emerging SA youngster Brad Mousley 2-4 4-3 7-5.

Under the abbreviated scoring system, sets are played to four. If the score during a game is deuce, the winner of the next point is awarded the game. If the opening two sets are split, a tiebreak is played to decide the rubber.

Sean Page pulled off a boilover for the Tigers to upset Steve Clasholm at No.2 single but the Wanderers took control of the contest when Daniel Crago and and Steve Sando smashed Martin Richards and Jason Todd respectively in the No.3 and 4 singles. The Wanderers also won both doubles to go to the top of the table.

In the match of the night, the Rostrevor Raiders’ guest professionals Colin Ebelthite and Marcus Daniell had strong wins over the Trinity Titans Li Tu and David To. Josh Crowe also won for the Raiders at No.3 single before Titans’ No.4 James Ma beat Chris Haskett to trigger a spirited revival. Trinity won both doubles, with veterans Adam Alesandrini and Mark Mullins pulling off a sensational win over Crowe and former professional Todd Perry. But the wins weren’t enough, with the Raiders holding on to win on games 3-6-36 to 3-6-29.

For the Somerton Park Sharks, No.1 Yuri Bezeruk was the star, beating the Saints’ guest professional Chris O’Connell and then combining with Darren Polkinghorn to win his double.

On the women’s side, the Freighters’ Olivia Lukaszewicz, Kimberly Ruxton, Chloe Hule all won their singles to set up their 5-10-45 to 1-2-22 win over the Gully Servers.

Trinity beat Goodwood 5-8-39 to 1-4-25 on the back of a singles clean-sweep, with Leah Daw, Kimberley Handley, Catherine Connolly and Louise Stacey all winning.

Phoebe Walker won the opening singles rubber for The Grove during their 1-2-17 to 5-11-46 loss to The Drive, but from their the side failed to win another rubber. The Petrov sisters, Jovana and Stefana, along with Kristilla Dimitrakopoulos, posted strong wins for The Drive.

The competition continues next Thursday, with the Wanderers-Sharks men’s match shaping as the contest of the round. Luke Saville will become available for the Sharks, while the Wanderers will lose Petrovic and will rely on their depth.

PHOTO CREDIT: Luke Hemer