6 January 2017 | Tennis Victoria

The 61^st Tennis Victoria Inter-Regional Country Championships got underway on Friday in sweltering conditions, with the mercury nudging 38 degrees.

However despite the extreme heat, over 250 players from across nine Victorian Country Regions took to the pristine grass courts at the Swan Hill Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club to play more than 250 matches.

Tennis Victoria Tournaments and Events Manager Andrew Reynolds said officials monitored the temperature throughout the day.

“I was pleased to be able to get through the matches today as scheduled, but we are more than aware of the high temperatures forecast for the weekend so we have rescheduled matches to start at 7.30am tomorrow to try and beat the extreme heat,” said Reynolds.

“I have been really impressed by the camaraderie within each region’s team, and the encouragement and support shown to all players across the day,” said Reynolds.

Taking the temperatures in his stride was Geelong’s Mick Mullen, who as team manager, has guided the Barwon Region to an incredible eight straight Inter-Regional Country Championship titles.

“I’m very very proud of that, if you’ve got a good team and people know there is someone they can go to who will have everything in place, [winning] just goes hand-in-hand,” said Mullen.

“It has been a great buzz to go and collect that trophy for the last eight years that I’ve been managing, but without the team there is no point having a manager so I’m thrilled to do the job I do.”

As a family, Mullen and his four daughters – Emma and Nicole, 18, Mikaela, 16 and Alana 15 – have attended every event for the past 13 years.

“I’ve been playing here for 13 years, my youngest is 15 so since she was two she’s been coming along. The girls have always travelled with us to the Inter-Regionals but now we’re all playing in the same team which is pretty good, because instead of having the kids standing behind the court watching dad, they are now out there playing for their region, so it’s a bit of a thrill,” said Mullen.

Saturday will see players continuing the singles matches, and beginning their mixed doubles events from 7.30am.

• Click here for more event information
• Click here for results and draws
• View the 2017 Inter-Regional Country Championships Program here.
• Date: 6-8 January 2017
• Venue: Swan Hill Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, Yana St, Swan Hill
• Hashtag: #InterRegionals
• Click here to view the History and Honour Roll