Masterton’s Liam Kerr won his singles match. PHOTO/FILE
TENNIS
CHRIS COGDALE
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Masterton won the doubles 2-1 to edge Martinborough 5-4 in a thrilling Wairarapa Tennis Regional One Interclub second-round clash at Masterton on Thursday night.
Martinborough went into the tie well placed to build their lead in the three-team competition after a 7-2 win over Opaki in the first round.
However, the defending champions were without frontline men Chris Wilkie and Marco de Groot, and Martha Wojcikowski in the women’s line-up.
Boon Huxtable continued his unbeaten streak at the top of the Masterton men’s order with a straight-sets victory over Ed Wilkie 6-3 6-1.
Liam Kerr beat Jaimie McMaster 6-2 6-2, for Masterton’s second win, and Matt Nicholson defeated William Day 6-2 6-1.
Mike Jones had a 6-3 6-3 win over Andi Steinemann for Martinborough.
The women’s singles were also shared with Masterton’s Deb Kerr getting the better of Karen Delahunty 6-2 6-1.
Katherine Jacobs squared the tie for Martinborough after the singles coming from a set down to beat Netia Morison 5-7 6-0 10-7 in a super tiebreaker.
That meant the fixture would be decided in the doubles, and all three matches were thrillers, going to super tiebreakers.
Huxtable and Rhys Hooper lost the first set to Wilkie and Nicholson before bouncing back to win 2-6 7-6 10-7.
Jones and McMaster also came from a set down to defeat Steinemann and Day 6-7 7-5 10-5.
Kerr and Morison continued the trend of losing the first set and going on to win, beating Jacobs and Delahunty 2-6 6-2 10-7.
Martinborough lead the championship on 13 points after two games. Masterton are on seven, and Opaki two points.
Masterton and Opaki will meet in the final match of the first round tomorrow night.
