Julie Malcolm was the only player from Gladstone to win both her matches. PHOTO/JADE CVETKOV
TENNIS
ELI HILL
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The competition is getting tight in the Wairarapa Regional One tennis championship.
Martinborough broke top-of-the-table Gladstone’s unbeaten run on Saturday, and Opaki moved a step closer to them after narrowly beating Carterton in the first round two matches.
Gladstone is now just one point ahead of Martinborough after going 7-2, with Opaki three points further back.
At Gladstone, the top-ranked match saw Martinborough’s Chris Wilkie beat Kelby Courtney.
It was a convincing win from Wilkie who won the first set 6-0 and the second 7-5.
The same story continued down the line with Martinborough’s Marco de Groot beating Scott Day 6-3, 7-5 and teammate Matt Nicholson winning the third for Martinborough 6-2, 6-1 over William Day.
Continuing the theme, Mike Jones overcame Mitchell Blackwood 6-1, 6-3 and Carla Didsbury beat Bridget Needham 6-1, 6-0.
Gladstone’s sole win of the singles went to Julie Malcolm against Marta Wilkie, 6-4, 7-5.
In the doubles it was a closer contest, with two of the three matches going to three sets.
Wilkie and de Groot lost their first set 3-6 but came back to win the second 6-4 and the third 6-1, while Nicholson and Jones had an easier run beating Gladstone’s Blackwood and Day 6-4, 6-1.
Again, it was Malcolm who claimed the only win of the doubles for Gladstone, teaming up with Needham to beat Didsbury and Wilkie match 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Martinborough captain de Groot was delighted with the result.
“The two matches we lost were also pretty close,” he said.
“Being just one point being Gladstone now, we’re really looking forward to our next match against Carterton in Martinborough in two weeks.”
In a closer match-up, Opaki’s victory against Carterton was decided in the doubles.
Opaki’s top ranked player Chris Davidson started off well against Carterton’s Matt Spooner, winning the first set 6-4, but Spooner took the next two 6-3, 6-1.
Opaki’s second-ranked Duncan Oakley fared better beating Andy Steineman 6-3, 6-4.
The winning run for Opaki continued when Stu Wyeth beat Marcus Laing 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, but was broken by Moritz Steineman who won against John Gordon 4-6, 6-3, 7-6.
Gerry Brooking bolstered Opaki with a 6-1, 6-3 win against Olivia Bailey before Carterton’s Karen Goodall beat Belinda Day 6-0, 6-2 to make it 3-3.
That added intensity to the doubles.
Carterton started off well with Spooner and Laing pairing up to beat Davidson and Wyeth 7-6, 7-5 in the top match.
But Oakley and Jon McNab made a comeback lower down to win the second match for Opaki 6-1, 6-0 from Andy and Moritz Steineman.
Brooking and Day secured the victory for Opaki with a 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 win over Goodall and Bailey.
Wairarapa Regional One Competition standings: Gladstone 25, Martinborough 24, Opaki 21, Carterton 14.
