South Australian men’s team NETA Knights and ladies team the Prospect Flames have fallen short of their goal to qualify for the Asia Pacific Tennis League Finals held in January at Melbourne Park after both finishing third in the South Conference ATL finals played in Melbourne from the 4-6 December.
In the Men’s competition the Knights got off to a strong start in their semifinal with number one player Brad Mousley winning a high level match over the Royal South Yarra’s Luke Saville. Unfortunately NETA’s other players were not able to back up the impressive win with Darren Polkinghorne losing his first match of the ATL so far and the Knights also losing their third and fourth singles rubber. The Yarra’s captured the first doubles and the match was finished with NETA going down 4-1.
NETA had the chance to bounce back in the third placed playoff and did so in commanding style when they overcame the Western Wildlings to take out third spot in the South Conference and earn some valuable prizemoney for the players and the organisation. For the Knights, a third place is a bitter sweet feeling, they finished the Pool stage in top spot of Pool B and would have been aiming for a top two finish in the finals stage. Brad Mousley and Darren Polkinghorne were outstanding at 1 and 2 singles and were well supported by youngsters Sam Longhurst and Dmaian Farinola.
In the ladies competition Prospect also came up against Royal South Yarra and struggled to get into the match from the start. Flames number one player Jennifer Elie fought hard in her match at number one singles and at times looked to be in control but eventually went down. Flames team captain Elyse Edwards was not able to revive her team’s chances and nor were their youngsters as the Flames went down 4-0 to an imposing Yarra’s team.
In the third placed playoff the Flames came up against the Western Wildlings. In the closest match of the finals series so far, the Flames managed to sneak through with on sets after rubber were three all. The third place finish is an impressive result for the Flames who put their team together late in the piece. The addition of American Jennifer Elie was vital to the teams push to the finals and the inclusion of some of South Australia most promising youngsters as well as experienced pro Elyse Edwards meant the Flames journey has been an enjoyable one to follow.
Unfortunately with NETA and Prospect falling short of a top two finish it means South Australia will not be represented at the Asia Pacific Tennis League finals being played at Melbourne Park during the Australian Open. It will be the first time South Australia has not had a team represented since the inception of the ATL in 2012.
For all results and more information visit the Asia Pacific Tennis League website.
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