Teenage Gladstone tennis player William Day. PHOTO/JADE CVETKOV
TENNIS
MARCUS ANSELM
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Carterton captain Matt Spooner praised teenage opponent William Day after a semi-final win over Gladstone on Saturday.
Carterton made home-court advantage pay in hot conditions in the Regional One Interclub competition semi-finals.
Spooner and Andi Steinemann earned a 2-1 win over Gladstone to reach next month’s final.
Number one Spooner overcame Gladstone captain Scott Day in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3.
The hosts took out the contest with a straight-sets win in the doubles. Spooner and Steinemann overcame Scott Day and Lochie McNab 7-5, 6-1 to progress.
But it was the in-form teenager who earned plaudits from the winning skipper.
The 14-year-old earned his fifth successive singles victory, 7-5, 6-2, over Steinemann.
Spooner was full of praise for William Day for his singles win and current hot streak.
“The game was fantastic. They played a few weeks back which Andi won. William’s just 14 years of age, but in the last few weeks he’s been coming on and on.
“He’s realised he’s good enough to compete. And he was just too good, to be fair. As big a game as Andi has, he’s got a big serve and a big forehand, William just blunted that with his overall speed and ground strokes. In the end he was just too quick and too strong off both sides.”
Spooner said the hard courts at Carterton accentuated the heat on one of the warmest days of the Wairarapa spring so far
The semi-final between top ranked Martinborough 1 and Masterton was re-scheduled to Sunday night.
In the fifth and sixth placed match, Opaki edged out Martinborough 2, 2-1.
Opaki’s pair Chris Davidson and Duncan Oakley earned a 7-5, 6-3 win over Ed Wilkie and Jaimie McMaster.
Davidson gained revenge for his earlier 6-2, 6-2 defeat to Wilkie. Brett Dymond earned a 6-2, 7-5 win over McMaster in the second singles match.
Men’s Interclub Shirley Corlett Trophy Results
Carterton 2, Gladstone 1; Opaki 2, Martinborough 2 1
