7 January 2017 | Tennis Victoria

Play continued on Saturday at the 61^st Inter-Regional Country Championships with another scorching day in the state’s north west.

As conditions reached 38 degrees in Swan Hill, Tournament Referee Bob Kane and Tournament Director Andrew Reynolds made the decision to enact the extreme heat policy and suspend play until temperatures dropped.

“Player welfare is always our number one priority and so we were monitoring the temperature all morning. We started play at 7.30am this morning but by lunchtime the heat had climbed to 38 degrees and so we made the decision to call play off for the majority of the afternoon,” said Reynolds.

“The break allowed players and parent’s ample opportunity to rest and recover before play resumed at 5pm and continued into the twilight.”

In the men’s open singles, defending champion Matthew Hicks (Barwon) is through to the final, after getting the better of Loddon Campaspe’s Isaac Watson 6-3 6-2.

Hicks will meet South West’s Matthew Moloney after he toppled 2015 runner up Aidan Fitzgerald (East Gippsland) 7-6(5)7-6(5).

In the open women’s singles, defending champion Eliza Long (Loddon Campaspe) will face Hope Curtis-McDonald (Goulburn) in the Final on Sunday. Long got the better of Nicole Mullen (Barwon) 6-1 6-1 in the semi-final while Hope was too strong for Sophie Vickers 6-2 6-4 (East Gippsland).

In the 12/u girls event, 10-year-old Isabella Crossman (Loddon Campaspe) will meet Alicia Dalla Santa (Nothern Mallee) while in the boys competition, Jeremy O’Brien (Goulburn) will take on Toby Galbraith (Nothern Mallee).

At the other end of the draw, the 50+ men’s competition, David Kos (Barwon) will face John Evans (Goulburn) in the final. The women’s 50+ event will see Fiona Walker (Barwon) up against Jill Pavia (Barwon).

In the race for overall country championship honours, Goulburn, Loddon Campaspe, Barwon and Mornington Peninsula are locked in a tight battle for top spot leading into the final day of play.

Sunday will see all the singles, doubles and mixed doubles finals. Play will commence at 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