Matt Nicholson won his singles and doubles for Martinborough. PHOTO/FILE
TENNIS
CHRIS COGDALE
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Martinborough won two of the three doubles matches to beat Masterton 5-4 in a thrilling Wairarapa Tennis Regional One Interclub clash at Martinborough on Saturday.
In doing so, Martinborough extended their lead to 10 points and were now virtually assured of playing in next month’s final.
It is the second time in the championship that a clash between the two clubs has been decided in the doubles, after the first-round encounter was won by Masterton.
Masterton dominated the men’s singles on Saturday with straight-sets wins to Boon Huxtable over Marco de Groot [6-1 6-4], William Day over Ed Wilkie [6-4 7-6], and Liam Kerr over Rob Marshall [6-4 6-2].
Matt Nicholson pulled a point back for Martinborough with a 6-1 6-3 defeat of Rhys Hooper.
Martinborough’s women evened the tie after the singles, with Rhona Lovell and Katherine Jacobs claiming straight-sets victories.
Lovell defeated Deb Kerr 6-1 6-0, and Jacobs edged Julie Foley 6-2 7-6.
Liam Kerr and Foley gave Masterton the lead, beating Marshall and Jacobs 6-3 6-4 in the mixed doubles, but Martinborough won the second mixed doubles and the men’s doubles to wrap up the victory.
De Groot and Lovell were pushed to three sets by Hooper and Deb Kerr, winning 4-6 6-0 7-5.
Wilkie and Nicholson prevailed over Huxtable and Day in the tightest match of the day 1-6 7-5 7-6, which was Huxtable’s first loss in interclub play since February last year.
Martinborough lead the championship on 28 points, with Masterton on 18, and Opaki on nine points.
Masterton and Opaki will meet in the final fixture of the reverse singles and mixed doubles round on Friday night.
Opaki need to win to keep alive their prospects of making the final.
