9 April 2016 | Tennis Victoria

For the first time in Tennis Victoria Premier League history, Grace Park Hawthorn secured an incredible three-peat, winning the prestigious title for the third consecutive year. In the women’s competition, MCC Tennis Section were crowned champions, convincingly defeating top of the ladder Liston at the Glen Iris Valley Rec Club on Saturday.

In a battle that went down to the wire, Steven de Waard and Jarryd Maher led Grace Park Hawthorn to victory over long-time rivals Kooyong Lawn Tennis 4-1. View photo album.

Maher teamed up with inaugural Paul Arber Memorial Award winner Daniel Nolan to take out the first rubber in a third set match tie-break, defeating Andrew Whittington and Andrew Coehlo 612 116 1015. Grace Park Hawthorn continued their run after a two-and-a-half our epic saw Steven De Waard and Adam Hubble get the better of Daniel Byrnes and David Bidmeade 7-6 7-6.

Meanwhile on the adjacent court, Kooyong were fighting back with the in-form Andrew Whittington winning his singles match against three time Ace Award winner James Lemke 6-4 6-2, taking the score to 2-1.

However Grace Park Hawthorn ran away with the championship, with Jarryd Maher defeating Mitchell Burman 6-4 4-6 6-4 before De Waard closed out the season defeating Daniel Byrnes 6-7 7-5 6-4.

After finishing runners up in the Asia Pacific Tennis League (ATL) South Conference in December, MCC went one better to win the state’s top inter-club competition 4 rubbers to 0.

A strong start in the doubles saw recent Perth ITF Pro Tour winner Jamiee Fourlis team up with Bojana Bobosic to make light work of Viktorija Rajicic/Masa Jovanovic 6-1 6-0, while Genevieve Lorbergs and Jessica Brzozowska slogged it out to defeat Monika Rajicic/Georgiana Ruhrig 4-6 6-3 10-2.

In the singles rubbers, Fourlis and Lorbergs showed their fighting spirit to seal victory for MCC, after both women lost their first set to Viktorija and Monika Rajicic respectively.

Lorbergs defeated Rajicic 3-6 6-2 5-2 before Fourlis held her nerve to clinch championship point over Rajicic 5-7 7-5 5-2.

Earlier in the day, Destanee Aiava (Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club) and Daniel Nolan (Grace Park Hawthorn) were awarded the inaugural Paul Arber Memorial Award. The Award recognises one male and one female player who displays the qualities of determination, teamwork and sportsmanship. The Award celebrates these qualities in young and emerging junior players and was created in collaboration with Paul’s parents, Sam and Richelle Arber.

The day also featured an ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Leagues State Gala Day with children from clubs around Melbourne competing against each other for a fun and competitive experience. View photo album.