Belinda Day won her women’s singles and mixed doubles for Opaki. PHOTO/FILE
TENNIS
CHRIS COGDALE
[email protected]
Opaki kept alive their chances of making the Wairarapa regional one interclub championship with a 6-3 defeat of Masterton on Friday night.
The win lifted Opaki to 17 points, four behind Masterton, with three games in the three-team competition to play.
Masterton were without their unbeaten number one man Boon Huxtable, but that made little difference as they prevailed in three of the four men’s singles.
Liam Kerr won a titanic battle with Duncan Oakley, winning a super tiebreaker 11-9 after the two sets were shared 3-6 6-0.
William Day defeated Chris Davidson 6-2 6-2, and Andi Steinemann got the better of Richie Day 6-4 7-5.
But that’s as good as it got for Masterton, with Opaki winning the remaining six matches.
Stu Wyeth won the fourth men’s singles by default from Rhys Hooper, Geri Brooking easily beat Deb Kerr 6-0 6-2, and Belinda Day defeated Julie Foley 6-1 6-2 in the women’s singles.
Oakley and Jon McNab won the men’s doubles over William Day and Steinemann 6-3 6-4.
Opaki also won both mixed doubles, with Davidson and Belinda Day winning their match with Liam Kerr and Foley 6-2 7-5. Wyeth and Brooking recovered from dropping the first set to beat Tony Allsworth and Deb Kerr 2-6 6-3 10-8 in the super tiebreaker.
The fixture was the last involving reverse singles and mixed doubles, and the competition will return to the traditional singles format, and men’s and women’s doubles for the final three games.
Martinborough lead on 28 points and look certain to make the final barring a major upset.
The defending champions play Opaki tomorrow night, and a win would guarantee their place in the decider, while an Opaki victory, or even a close loss would keep the pressure on Masterton for the second place in the final.
Martinborough will back-up against Masterton on Saturday.
