25 September 2013 | Tennis Tasmania

After a weekend of contrasting conditions the 2013 Hobart Open White AMT is now in the books. As expected the quality of players lived up to expectations with some phenomenal tennis played throughout. It was fantastic to see so many past and present stars of Tasmanian tennis participate in this great event.

Play kicked off on a beautiful Saturday morning at the picturesque Domain Tennis Centre. In the most anticipated match of the round between Elliot Johnstone and Ben Osborne (Launceston) it was Johnstone who overcame a slow start en-route to a three set triumph. On the women’s side Phoebe Davis and Kathryn Easther renewed their rivalry after the Tasmanian Tennis League (TTL) duel. After storming out of the blocks Davis was unable to match the precision of Easther dropping a tight three set tussle. Seeds were being challenged across the events with un-seeded Eliane Fader claiming the first set over third seeded Vanessa Dobson. In a see-sawing second set Dobson was able to gain some momentum en-route to a comfortable third set victory. In the men’s side fourth seeded Peter Leary and fifth seeded Elliot Johnstone were bundled out of the tournament early with Bradley Dunn and Daniel Groom providing the upset wins. After some rain delays in the doubles, play was abandoned till Sunday.

With a few matches to get through on finals day all play was moved to the Synthetic Grass because of the inclement weather. With a promising forecast on the radar doubles was moved to the morning to allow the singles to be possibly played on hard court. In the women’s Semi Final It was the duo of Krueger/Fazackerley who gave a hell of a fright to top seeded combination Smith/Easther. After claiming a convincing first set 6-1 the pair was unable to continue this momentum with the top seeds claiming the second and third set tie break to reach the final. Smith/Easther were able to continue this momentum in the final by defeating Davis/Dobson by a 6-3, 6-3 score line. Men’s doubles action was next with the giant killing run of Dunn/Fader falling agonizingly short against top seeded Johnstone/Easther. After defeating the second seeded Leary brothers Dunn/Fader were well on their way by claiming the first set in the final. From here Johnstone/Easther showed their mettle by claiming the second set and prevailing in a nail biting third set tie break 10-8.

Men’s singles action was next with the first men’s Semi Final living up to its billing with eighth seeded Bradley Dunn challenging top seeded New South Welshman Luke Adamus. After claiming the ever important first set Dunn was unable to hang with Adamus who raised his game to new heights. Adamus eventually prevailed in three sets where Richard Wynwood awaited. Wynwood claimed a high quality straight sets victory over close friend and competitor Ken Ho. Wynwood quoted “That score line didn’t do justice to the closeness of the match. Ken and I have had some great matches but I think we both agreed this was the closest and highest quality”. On the women’s side the top seeds reigned supreme with Janaya Smith claiming a hard fought victory over Kathryn Easther with the score again not reflecting the quality and closeness of the contest. Smith was able to win the big points and use that momentum to secure a comfortable win. In the other semi second seeded Catherine Krueger proved too strong and agile for third seeded Vanessa Dobson. Showing brief displays of brilliance Dobson was unable to match the movement and ball recovery skills of Krueger who claimed a straight sets victory.

With final set to begin, due to injury Smith was unable to compete handing the title to Krueger. Krueger has come off some very impressive results on the mainland with ITF tournaments in Asia next on the agenda. In what clearly was the match of the tournament top seeded Luke Adamus and third seeded Richard Wynwood played out an instant classic. Adamus stormed out the blocks by claiming a comfortable 6-2 first set before Wynwood clicked into gear. Once he did Wynwood reeled off nine straight games placing him in a commanding 3-0 lead in the third set. Remarkably Adamus was able to regain his composure by evening the ledger at 5-5. In what can only be described as phenomenal tennis both players placed their body on the line with Wynwood saving break point with a fully stretched dive volley. After cramping his way to holding serve, Wynwood was able to power his way to an epic 2-6, 6-0, 7-5 victory claiming the title and being crowned Hobart Open men’s champion.

We would like to send a huge thank you to all players and parents involved for being so patient during out rain plagued finals day. The tournament was a complete success and the standard of play throughout was remarkable. To view all final results please click here and we look forward to hopefully seeing you all at the Devonport Open October 26-27.