23 November 2015 | Gabriella Tobias

It’s been a big few days for Tennis Victoria. We’ve had Junior Pennant, ATL, Win a Wildcard, Super 10s Finals days and Regional Academies of Sport training and trials. Phew, I need a lie down just thinking about all of that!

I was fortunate enough to spend a few days watching some of our best players battle it out in the Asia-Pacific Tennis League (ATL) and also the Win a Wildcard tournament over the weekend.

Saturday afternoon I visited Dingley Tennis Club for round 2 of the ATL action. Dingley always put on a great event for the local community to come along and experience. From the DJ to their MC keeping the crowd informed with score updates and FAST4 match quirks, the atmosphere was great on a sunny Saturday afternoon. I was also happy to see the Dingley Dingo back again, leading his team into action. I thought the smoke machine to welcome the players onto court was also a nice touch.

The action on court was what the fans came to see. Home side, the Dingoes, were strong in front of their home crowd having a convincing win over South Australia’s Dover Square Destroyers 5 rubbers to 1. The Royal South Yarra’s had a strong battle against the Kooyong Classics in the other mens match with the Yarra’s too strong winning 4 rubbers to 2.

In the women’s matches the RSY ladies also played the Kooyong Classics. In the upset of the day three time Victorian Junior Athlete of the Year, Destanee Aiava defeated WTA No. 36 Daria Gavrilova in their rubber. However it wasn’t enough for Kooyong to get the win and the Yarras fought back and won the day 4-2 as well. The MCC Stars led by American Asia Muhammad were too strong for the Mornington Missiles winning 5-1.

Sunday I headed to Boroondara Tennis Centre to see the Victorian round of the Medibank Win a Wildcard event. It was great to see the tournament well supported by Victorian pairs all keen to win that spot in the Wildcard playoffs in December. Storm Sanders and Marc Polmans shot out of the gates early and with no surprises to those watching made it through to the final. They were to meet Alana Parnaby (AP) and Aaron Addison (AA) who you could see really hit their strides as the day progressed. In what was a well contested final, Alana and Aaron were too strong, taking the win in 3 sets.  After Win a Wildcard we all travelled to Mornington Tennis Centre for the ATL Round 3 where I had a great chat with lots of laughs with the happy winning pair. You can read more about that here.

One of the lovely moments I had at Mornington was chatting to Waverley Tennis’ Lyn Gillen. Lyn is one of the many wonderful tennis people that are so dedicated to the sport. Deservedly, she received a Tennis Victoria Highly Commended Service award in 2014 for her contribution to tennis. Her team Waverley isn’t competing this year but Lyn still comes along to watch the ATL and to support the players. While there, Lyn was so happy to hear Alana and Aaron had won that morning. She told me that she had seen them both come through the junior ranks at Waverley and she was very proud of their achievements and hoped they get the Wildcard through to the Australian Open.

Speaking of Wildcards it was great to see Tammi Patterson after our chat in Bendigo recently. If you read my previous blog post you would have read that Tammi wasn’t sure what was ahead for her this Summer, that’s definitely changed since then. After some congratulatory squealing and hugs from me I then had a proper catch up with Tammi.

TV: So, last time we spoke, you had no plans for Summer, what’s changed?

TP: I’m playing main draw!

TV: Yay!!! Tell me how that came about.

TP: Well after we spoke I won my quarterfinal (at Bendigo), and then people were saying I might be in the running for a Wildcard but I didn’t think so, I was just focused on what I was there to do, to play. Then I beat the No. 1 seed!

TV: Again! You’re making a habit of knocking out the No.1 seed in your tournaments.

TP: Yes, again, and convincingly too in under an hour. Then I came off court and everyone was saying that I’d won the Wildcard. I didn’t know what to say or how to react. I was speechless and in tears. Then I got the call from Pratty (Nicole Pratt, head of Tennis Australia women’s tennis) and then I knew it was real. I still have to keep saying to myself, I’m in the main draw of the Australian Open! It’s a dream come true and I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.

TV: Has your Summer plans changed now in preparation for the Open?

TP: Definitely, I’m in training, I won’t be going on holidays like I’d planned. I’m in a training block now focusing on my fitness. In a couple of weeks I’ll get back on the court and start focusing on the tennis side.

TV: How is ATL going? You had a tough round 3 today against the home side?

TP: We got through by a couple of games today, we had to win both doubles and we won them both in the 3^rd sets tiebreaks. It’s nice to be in a team atmosphere with ATL, you don’t get that on tour. It’s nice to have everyone there supporting you. I’m so proud of Storm (Sanders) and how she held up today and got through that match (after WAWC this morning).

TV: Tammi, your team (Royal South Yarras) are undefeated so far and the next round is at home at Royal South Yarra. Are you looking forward to that?

TP: Yeah there should be a good crowd coming down to watch. It’s always nice to play at your home club and have your home supporters there.

TV: You’ve had a big few days, rest up, put the feet up and get them ready for the Newcombe Medal tomorrow night. Thanks Tammi!

We also caught up with Rubin Statham of the Kooyong Classics who had another well fought battle with Dingley’s James Lemke. It’s always the match of the round with these two and they didn’t disappoint today. Chatting to Rubin he told me how he always enjoys the battle with James as it always came down to a few points either way. He’s enjoying his 4^th ATL season with us in Victoria and will spend the Summer preparing for his 12^th straight year representing New Zealand in Davis Cup.

Thanks to Alana Parnaby, Aaron Addison, Tammi Patterson, Rubin Statham and Lyn Gillen for their time.

Thank you also to Dingley Tennis Club, Boroondara Tennis Centre and Mornington Tennis Centre for being great hosts for this weekend of tennis.

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