Ed Wilkie won Martinborough’s only men’s singles against Masterton. PHOTO/FILE
TENNIS
CHRIS COGDALE
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Martinborough won two of the three doubles to beat Masterton 5-4 in a tight Wairarapa Tennis Regional One Interclub clash at Martinborough on Saturday.
That followed a 5-4 win over Opaki on Thursday night and extended Martinborough’s points tally to 42, well clear of Masterton [25] and Opaki [21], who will fight it out for the second spot in the final.
Masterton won three of the four men’s singles on Saturday, but it was the women’s singles and the doubles that swung the tie in favour of Martinborough.
Masterton’s Boon Huxtable continued his unbeaten singles run in interclub with a straight sets’ win, 6-1 6-2, over Chris Wilkie at the top of the order, while Andi Steinemann came from a set down to beat Steve Chapman 3-6 6-4 6-3, and Liam Kerr defeated Mike Jones in two tight sets 6-4 6-4.
Ed Wilkie won Martinborough’s only men’s singles, with a 6-1 6-2 defeat of William Day.
Wins to Rhona Lovell, 6-0 6-0 over Julie Foley, and Martha Wojcikowski, 6-4 7-5 over Deb Kerr, ensured the fixture was locked up at 3-3 after the singles.
Comfortable straight set victories to Ed Wilkie and Jones over Steinemann and Liam Kerr 6-4 6-0, and Lovell and Wojcikowski over Foley and Deb Kerr 6-3 6-2 wrapped up the points for Martinborough.
Huxtable and Rhys Hooper pulled back a valuable point for Masterton, coming from a set down to beat Chris Wilkie and Chapman 5-7 7-5 6-2.
On Thursday, Martinborough won five of the six men’s matches to beat Opaki 5-4 at Masterton.
Chris Wilkie needed a super tiebreaker to edge Duncan Oakley 1-6 6-0 10-3, Marco de Groot defeated Chris Davidson 6-3 6-4, and Ed Wilkie got the better of Stu Wyeth 6-1 6-4.
Richie Day pulled a point back for Opaki, edging Jones in the tightest of super tiebreakers 6-3 3-6 10-8.
Geri Brooking defeated Libby Paterson 6-3 6-2, and Belinda Day was too good for Wojcikowski winning their clash 6-2 6-0, to even the scores after the singles.
Brooking and Day gave Opaki some hope of an upset victory with a 6-3 6-1 win over Paterson and Wojcikowski in the women’s doubles.
But that wasn’t enough, as Ed Wilkie and Jones beat Davidson and Richie Day 6-4 6-2, and Chris Wilkie and de Groot sealed the victory with a 6-3 7-6 win over Oakley and Jon McNab.
Masterton and Opaki will meet in the last round-robin fixture on Friday night. Opaki need to win six of the nine matches to leapfrog Masterton for a place in the final on March 20.
