Edgeware begins bold title defence

Press, 14 October 1985, Page 29

Edgeware begins bold title defence

Edgeware made a bold start to its defence of the B.N.Z. senior men’s tennis championship in glorious conditions at Wilding Park on Saturday.

Edgeware romped to a 60 win against United and dropped only one set in six matches. Fendalton, which was a strong challenger for the title last year, had its aspirations of winning the championship this year jolted rudely by Cashmere, which won 5-1.

Shirley, which could be a threat to Edgeware, also started the season in rampant form. It allowed Bishopdale to win only one match.

Te Kura, which has had lowly placings for the last few seasons, lost its first match on Saturday, but in the process took two matches off Elmwood.

Edgeware could not have wished for a better start against United. It won both doubles in quick time, and three of the four singles were won with the loss of only eight games. Stephen Harley, fresh from another summer in West Germany, was too powerful in the No. 1 position for his opposite, John Honeywell. Harley’s powerful serving and volleying paved the way for his success.

Michael Mooney and Geoff Smith were also far too accomplished for their opponents, Neil Pattinson and Alan Shroud, respectively. Noel Dillon was the only player to be extended in the singles, but that was understandable because he has been away from senior tennis for several seasons.

Dillon breezed through the first set losing one game, but lost his rhythm in the second and Tim Howe fought bak determinedly to win the set 7-5. The tenseness grew as the third set progressed, but Dillon eventually overcame his opponent 6-4.

Cashmere was delighted with its win against a team that last year was one of the top sides. Last year was Cashmere’s first in the senior division and judging by Saturday’s performance it will be some years before it is out of the senior grade. Craig Workman, making his debut for the club, combined with Terry Mooney to beat Scott Perkins and Geoff Lawson without much difficulty. Fendalton kept itself in the contest by winning the other doubles. The experience and guile of Marty Searle and Alistair Chapman enabled them to beat their younger opposition, Jeff Brightwell and Geoff Young. That was the only success Fendalton had, however. Workman quickly despatched Lawson in their singles, dropping two games. Young kept the pressure on Searle, skipping about and retrieving from all parts of the court, and in the second set waiting for Searle to make simple errors on volleys. Perkins tried intensely to match Brightwell but did not have the control or placement to extend Brightwell who was prepared to wait for the errors. To his credit Perkins was prepared to attack until the end.

Although it did not affect the final outcome, the match between Mooney and Chapman was a long, tiring, intriguing affair. Chapman quickly established a 5-2 lead in the first set, but he frittered that away with a series of unforced errors and Mooney eventually levelled at 5-5. The set continued blow for blow right into a tie breaker. At 6-6 Chapman had a fortunate shot which hit the top of the net and dropped into Mooney’s court Chapman won the set on the next point. Mooney was not prepared to capitulate. He kept pumping the ball back at Chapman and his excellent placements won himymany

points, with Chapman left scrambling to try and reach the ball.

Mooney won the second set, also in a tie-breaker, and in the third Chapman’s rhythm began to fail and Mooney was able to capitalise and make the vital breaks to end a two-hour duel.

Te Kura was encouraged by a win in the doubles. Hugh Robinson and Marty Beaumont combined well to beat Dave Mitchell and Hamish Faulls.

Unfortunately the singles did not go as planned for Te Kura. Mitchell quickly beat Eddie van Opzeeland. In two of the other three singles, prospects looked bright when Shane Adair and Beaumont won their first sets against Mike Young and Faulls respectively. Remarkably, Young lost the first nine games against Adair, but from 0-3 down in the second set he gritted his teeth and won the next two setts 6-4, 6-4.

Faulls, another young player, settled into a fluent rhythm after the loss of the first set, and he dropped only two games to Beaumont to win the next two sets 6-1, 6-1. Brett Hibbert and Peter Hampton paved the way for Shirley’s 5-1 win against Bishopdale. Each player used his strength and experience with a new partner to help Shirley to two wins in the doubles.

Both Hibbert and Hampton looked a little rusty in the singles but at this early stage of the season that was forgiveable. Hibbert was untroubled to beat Vernon Aubrey, and Hampton played

within himself to beat JeanPierre Andre in two sets. Grant James secured Bishopdale’s only win when he beat Craig Roberts in a topsy-turvy match. Roberts won the first set 6-4, but failed to win a game in the next and then lost the vital set in a tie-breaker. Results were: Edgeware 6, United 0 Singles: S. Harley beat J. Honeywell, 6-3, 6-1; M. Mooney beat N. Pattinson, 6-0, 6-3; G. Smith beat A. Shroud, 6-1, 6-0; N. Dillon beat T. Howe, 6-1, 57, 6-4. Doubles: Harley and Smith beat Honeywell and Pattinson, 6-1, 7-6; Mooney and Dillon beat Howe and Shroud, 6-1, 6-4. Cashmere 5, Fendalton 1 Singles: C. Workman beat G. Lawson, 6-0, 6-2; T. Mooney beat A. Chapman, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3; G. Young beat M. Searle, 6-4, 6-3; J. Brightwell beat S. Perkins, 6-3, 6-0. Doubles: Workman and Mooney beat Perkins and Lawson, 6-1, 6-2; Young and Brightwell lost to Searle and Chapman, 36, 2-6. Shirley, 5, Bishopdale 1 Singles: B. Hibbert beat V. Aubrey, 6-2, 6-4; P. Hampton beat J. P. Andre, 6-4, 6-4; C. Roberts lost to G. James, 6-4, 0-6, 6-7; B. Clark beat R. Gray, 6-4, 7-5. Doubles: Hampton and Clark beat Aubrey ana James, 7-6, 64; Hibbert and Roberts beat Andre and Gray, 6-4, 6-2. Elmwood 4, Te Kura 2 Singles: R. Mason lost to H. Robinson, 6-2, 4-6, 4-6; D. Mitchell beat E. van Opzeeland, 6-3, 6-3; M. Young beat S. Adair, 0-6, 6-4, 6-4; H. Faulls beat M. Beaumont, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1. Doubles: Mitchell and Faulls lost to Robinson and Beaumont, 4-6, 6-7; Mason and Young beat Adair and van Opzeeland, 6-2, 6-1.