18 October 2017 | Tennis SA

The 2017/18 Junior State Season kicked off with a bang last Friday night. The Girl’s commenced with a ‘Super Round’ at Peake Gardens-Riverside Tennis Club, with the Boy’s doing battle at the Millswood Tennis Club. The weather was perfect, the scene was set, battle lines were drawn, and it was time to begin what promises to be another great season of Junior State League.

Round 1 of the girl’s saw two extremely close matches, and one comfortable victory.  West Lakes Tennis Club, produced a fantastic showing, sneaking past the Hahndorf girl’s. At the end of the match they were each tied on 3 rubbers each, with West Lakes getting the chocolates by a meagre 3 games.

The Seacliff girl’s had a slightly easier time of it, despite many long rallies, and some high standard tennis from Peake Gardens, it was Seacliff getting up 5 rubbers to 1. They were lead strongly, by the popular pick for the JSL Girl’s Player of the Year, Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz.

Goodwood and Happy Valley played out an absolute nail biter, with spectators on the edge of their seats. Heidi Evans (Happy Valley) and Erica Williams (Goodwood) were the stand outs for their respective sides, both with very strong showings.  At the conclusion it was Goodwood sneaking over the line by just 2 games and getting their premiership defence off to good start.

Over at Millswood there were three one-sided battles, and one that couldn’t get any closer.  The Coromandel Valley boy’s showed why they are most people’s tip for the flag with a dominant display.  On the night they had just a touch too much depth for Hahndorf, with Ollie Douglas, Sam ‘The Glue’ Sanderson and Patrick Douglas having the strongest showings.

Trinity demonstrated why they made the Final last year, winning 5 of their 6 rubbers.  Jared Waterman and Hendrick Grohbruegge were sensational for Trinity, with Will Clifford the shining light for Peake Gardens-Riverside.

Seaside were victorious over Glenunga winning 5 of their rubbers. Lachlan Hill was very strong as a vital cog in Seaside’s victory. In what proved to be the match of the round, Tea Tree Gully locked horns with Seacliff in what proved a battle for the ages. In the end, it was the powerful display from Alex Carroll that got Tea Tree Gully the win by a single game!

It was fantastic to get the Junior State League off to a great start. We are all excited for what round 2 will bring this Friday night, with the Phantom Tipster making some bold predictions and big upsets!

>Full Results

Round 2 Phantom Tipsters Tips