Ararat District Tennis Association | Action heats up as finals edge closer

It was third versus fourth over at Crowlands as they hosted Landsborough in the opening match of the weekend. The Landsborough men came out firing, with Nick Bush and Linden Murray opening with a strong win over Michael Harricks and Keith Boatman. The other battle in the Men's section went similarly to Lansborough, with young Theo Browne and Karl Scott taking the win over Steve Jardine and Chris Frampton.

The ladies court was another story entirely. The opening two games on the ladies court were a sight to behold, with some of the seasons best tennis played out in two epic sets. The ever-reliable duo of Julia Boatman and Kate Vance from Crowlands ground out a solid tiebreaker win over Genevieve Bush and Christiana Henke, while the other Crowlands combo of Mary Lou Boatman and Jess Frampton also took out their set in a tiebreaker over Claire Monaghan and Courtney Ellen. Landsborough mounted a comeback in the ladies section late, but the Crowlands ladies held on to take out the section.

At a section a piece, the match was to be decided on the mixed result, and Landsborough flexed their Men's and Ladies depth to take out every mixed set available to put themselves well within contention for finals.

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The highlight of the day at Crowlands was undoubtedly the two opening matches of the ladies section, with the entire Men's section wrapped up in the time it took to play both tightly fought Ladies games!

Down the Western Highway, the Ararat side travelled to take on the in-form Buangor team. In a mixed bag of a day for both sides, the Men's section got underway with a win for Buangor brothers Ben and Chris Hartwich over Nick Oliver and John Hannett. The other opening Men's match was won back by Ararat through a slightly hampered Alex Drosg and young Tom Bartlett over Phil Hartwich and young Will Hope. The Buangor Men continued strong and won the final two games to take out the section.

In a mirror image, the Ladies section was opened strongly by the dynamic Ararat duo of Tahni Skewes and Mel Roberts over Kim Hartwich and Muffy Dyer. The fightback came from Buangor's Alison Pitcher and Katie Sandford, edging out Ella McLoughlin and Laura Cameron in a tiebreaker. Again, in stark contrast to the Men, the Ararat ladies held tough in their final 2 sets to square the ledger heading into the mixed sets.

Kim and Ben Hartwich came out strong against Nick Oliver and Tahni Skewes, while John Hannett and Mel Roberts compensated for Ararat against Muffy Dyer and Chris Hartwich.

Ararat held on in the Mixed and the Match, with the youngest pairing proving the most dominant on the day, Ella and Tom managing an 8-1 victory in the final set of the day to seal it for Ararat in the highlight of the day.

Heading into the final round, Ararat have the final bye having cemented their place in second. Crowlands will travel to Elmhurst to take on the top spot and vie for third place, and Buangor make the trip to Landsborough in what could prove a very interesting game. With Elmhurst Amphitheatre locking down top spot, and Ararat securing enough points to stay in second, third and fourth will be fought for ferociously. Should Buangor manage to wrap up a full compliment of points they will sneak into fourth (or third) place to earn a spot in the post-season.

Some seriously good tennis to come this week, and a very exciting end to the season to be played out this weekend.

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