Friday night saw the culmination of the one of the biggest nights on the tennis calendar at Memorial Drive Tennis Centre.
With the Asia-Pacific Tennis League (ATL) and the Junior ATL also hosting their finals, a crowd of 750 people were treated to the very best tennis from the 10/U, 16/U and also Open Men’s and Women’s tennis. Adding to the evening was the presence of the Australian Open trophies for players and spectators who were able to get their photos taken with ‘Daphne’ and ‘Norm’.
In the boys Super 10’s final, Team Djokovic confirmed their standing as the number one team in the competition by defeating the second-placed Team Federer 8-46 to 2-28. The team that finished first after the preliminary rounds, but had drawn their match with their opponents the week before, got off to a flying start winning three of the four singles and then taking the points in the two remaining doubles matches to seal a convincing victory.
Team Djokovic were admirably lead by number one man Terry Karahalios and number two man Edward Vo who won the Dellacqua and Hewitt award for their play in the final. Jarrod Vidov and Alexander Firipis backed up their teammates to contribute two more points to the team victory.
Winning team manager, Matthew Langley praised the players for their support of each other throughout the season, “Even from Round One the boys all got along well and were very supportive of each other, regardless of the score. We drew with Team Federer last round so I couldn’t be happier with how they prepared and competed on the day-I think the team camaraderie could have been the difference for us.”
Congratulation s must also go to Team Federer for the season they had in finishing 2nd. The team was Patrick Douglas, Luke Mascione, Alex Carroll and Mitchell Fricker.
In the girls final Team Azarenka and Team Sharapova finished equal on points after the preliminary rounds so a close final was anticipated. However Team Sharapova jumped out of the blocks quicker and claimed 3 ½ of the 4 points on offer to put the final out of reach for Team Azarenka, the team of Kara Tscharke, Angela Galantomos, Rita Zhiltsova and Meeka Marshall eventually running out winners 6 ½ -41 to 2 ½ – 33.
Team manager Natalia Irvine was ecstatic at the improvement shown by the girls throughout the season.
“We actually lost to this team in the first round by 7 points to 1 so that just goes to show how far the team has come in the last month. To be able to work with them on the court as they’re playing is such a great experience and one that really helps the players be more aware of what they are doing under pressure. However developing the’ team’ aspect is what I most enjoyed about being a team manager.”
Well done to the runners-up, Team Azarenka, who had a great season also. The team was Alana Repanich, Ebony Harper, Maggie Pearce and Sophie Faull.
Coach and Talent Development Manager for SA, Brett McLennan, congratulated all the players, parents and the team managers for a wonderful Super 10’s season.
“What an exciting and unique experience to be able to group the best 10/U players into one competition and see them playing in a team-based format that rewards effort, hard-work and fair play. I can honestly say that every player showed improvement throughout the season and hopefully this spurs them on to train harder to emulate their idols. One of our local tennis idols, Junior Australian and Wimbledon champion Luke Saville also made a guest appearance in round two, and you can’t put a price on aspirational experiences such as that. “
Super 10’s kicks off again in SA for players born in 2003 and 2004 in Term 1 of 2013.
For further information, visit tennis.com.au/competitions/super-10s.
Latest
SA