1 December 2018 | Tennis Victoria

The Tennis Victoria Premier League season has produced an enthralling conclusion on Grand Final day at MCC Glen Iris Valley Tennis Club on Saturday afternoon.

Liston Tennis Club (women) and MCC Glen Iris Valley Tennis Club (men) both successfully defended their titles in front a bumper crowd, and with hundreds also joining the livestream coverage of the event.

Tennis Victoria Premier League is the state’s highest level inter-club competition in which clubs battle it out for a total prize money pool of $20,000 in the men’s and women’s competitions.

Liston and MCC Glen Iris Valley were extremely competitive in the doubles, splitting the results to go into the singles rubbers 1-1. Star Liston recruit Destanee Aiava, with partner Alison Bai, stalled the gun duo of Jaimee Fourlis and Zoe Hives 7-5 7-6. On the neighbouring court, the MCC Glen Iris Valley’s Astra Sharma and Jess Moore pairing almost let their exceptional start mean nothing after claiming victory in a third set super tiebreaker, 6-0 6-7 11-9.

Aiava and Fourlis then setup a mouth-watering clash worthy of a grand slam first round match, however, the result was heavily in favour of Liston, with Aiava winning 6-2 6-1. Isabelle Wallace then did it the hard way as she defeated Astra Sharma 6-3 2-6 10-8. As the Grand Final only plays to a result, Liston was able to claim sets in both the remaining rubbers, thus winning their third-consecutive Tennis Victoria Premier League title.

MCC Glen Iris Valley’s men’s team started with a point to prove. Following last year’s disappointing Grand Final day washout, MCC Glen Iris Valley was quite convincing in the doubles rubbers, winning both in straight sets. The hotly contested matches saw some fireworks with the audience captivated by the intense play.

Finishing the regular season on top of the ladder, Bundoora were not going down without a fight. Jeremy Beale overcame a slow start to overpower Blake Mott 7-6 6-1. Beale’s serve and forehand did the damage with a host of aces and unreturnables.

William Ma then pulled off a staggering win by defeating Peter Luczak 6-2 2-6 11-9. The rubber levelled the day and got the crowd into the event as the final two singles matches would need to decide the result. Lucas Vuradin and Matthew Romios began their encounter trading long service games before a crucial break of serve proved the difference for Vuradin – the 2018 Paul Arber award recipient. The second set seemed to coincide perfectly with the neighbouring court as Aaron Addison and Stefan Vujic were battling it out. Addison defeated Vujic 6-2 6-2, moments before Vuradin sealed the team’s result with his singles victory 6-3 6-2.

Both this year’s winners (Liston and MCC Glen Iris Valley) won the 2018 season needing to also win their semi-final, as MCC Glen iris Valley (women) and Bundoora finished the season in first position.

The day also saw the unveiling of awards during the official presentations at the beginning of the day:

Community Engagement Awards
Men: Glenburn TC
Women: Hume TCC and Liston TC

ACE Awards
Men: Stefan Vujic
Women: Seone Mendez

Paul Arber Awards
Men: Lucas Vuradin
Women: Gabriella Da Silva Fick

For further information about Tennis Victoria Premier League, click here.