13 April 2011 | Tennis Victoria

North Suburban Junior Tennis Association (NSJTA) won its first Alicia Molik cup on the weekend, defeating Berwick in the final.

Held at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club, the NSTJA team of Danny Ha (St Albans), Lucas Vuradin (Sydenham), Samyuktha Rajagopalan (South Kingsville) and Stephanie Serafidis (Moonee Ponds) greatly improved on the team’s eight placing last year.

“There was some great tennis played over the two days by some of the best 12/u players from all across Victoria at the traditional home of tennis in this country, the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club,” said Jason Simmons, Tennis Victoria’s Manager of Junior Competitions and Tournaments.

The final started out very one-sided, with NSJTA dominating Berwick to take an unassailable 3-0 lead, the final score being 4-43 to 2-28.

Tom Vuradin, the Team Manager for NSJTA said it was the first time all four players had played in a team before and the players did a great job of respecting the game and their opponents.

“It was a great experience for the kids because the event promotes healthy competition,” said Vuradin.

“The competition was strong and matches were played in the right spirit. The players played some tough tennis. It was a great event all around.”

A highlight of the weekend was the event’s patron, Alicia Molik, stopping by to have a chat to the kids and signing some autographs.

“The kids were absolutely stoked Alicia was there,” said Vuradin.

“She’s a star of Australian tennis.”

In total, 64 players comprising 16 teams from metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria took part in the round robin event. Ties consisted of two boys’ singles, two girls’ singles and two mixed doubles rubbers. The Alicia Molik Cup is run with the support of the Kooyong Foundation.