On a perfect afternoon for tennis, 2 out of the 5 wins kick started their campaigns with a win; The Section 5 team (Frajman) to get their campaign started next week after being on the receiving end of a forfeit.

Below: Section 8 players Stephen Gorenstein and Henry Orner giving credit to their doubles partner.

BRTA Summer Pennant

Section 3 Maccabi 3-3-47 defeated by Langwarrin 3-5-42

Jordan Jaffe 6-2 (Forfeit)
Jonny Henquin 4-8
Marty Schwarz 8-5
Rob Minc 8-3
Jordan Jaffe/ Jonny Henquin 6-7 6-7
Marty Schwatz/ Rob Minc 3-6 4-6

First game of summer on a glorious summer’s day we actually decided to start with doubles. Marty and Rob played very well together but just came short in both sets. While Jordan and Jonny had their chances including 5 set points in Set 2, but went down in tiebreaks in both sets.

In singles, Jordan took advantage of his opponent’s tiredness and lack of fitness to take a strong 6-2 lead before the opponent was unable to continue and had to forfeit. 

Jonny played against Tim (a familiar person at Maccabi), and had an extremely high quality match. Battling against Tim’s massive serves, Jonny gave it his all and had some insane rally’s but unfortunately went down 8-4.

Marty played a very solid opponent who got an early 5-3 lead against him. Despite being down, Marty’s eagerness to win and tactics led him to control more points in the backend of the match to win the next 5 games and win 8-5.

 

While Rob was excellent from the very start. Taking total control of his opponent and winning the match by a convincing 8-3.

- Jordan Jaffe

Section 5 Maccabi 6-8-54 defeated Mentone 0-0-0 (Forfeit)

Section 6 Maccabi  2-3-44 defeated by Tennis World 4-5-49

Dean Steinberg 8-7
Nathan Rapoport 4-8
Lior Rauchberger 3-8
Daniel Henquin 7-8
Dean Steinberg/ Nathan Rapoport 4-6 6-2 0-6
Lior Rauchberger/ Daniel Henquin 6-2 6-2

Lior and Daniel got off to a fast start in their doubles, taking the first set in no time. The second set was a lot tighter but they were up to the challenge. 

Dean and Nathan fought a close first set but were just a bit off their game, before lifting in the second while their opponents dropped off. Unfortunately the script flipped in the third as the opponents found their A-game.

Daniel fought a marathon grudge match but couldn't seal it in the tie-breaker.

Lior got off to a slow start, then started to challenge his opponent, but couldn't pare back the lead.

Nathan took it to his more powerful opponent, opening up an early lead, but tired as the game wore on and as his opponent started to find his shots.

Dean was very evenly matched to his opponent, both pounding the ball consistently from the base line in an exciting contest. His steely resolve in the tie-breaker was the decisive factor. 

Not the desired result but all very competitive. Hopefully a sign of a great season to come.

- Nathan Rapoport

Section 7 Maccabi 2-3-34 defeated by Kooyong 4-5-46

Steve Bendel 8-6
Errol Dorfan 2-8
Russell Golden 3-8
Blake Golden 2-8
Steve Bendel/ Errol Dorfan 2-6 5-7 
Russell Golden/ Blake Golden 6-0 6-3

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Section 8 Maccabi 4-5-45 defeated BLTC 2-3-45

Steve Kleytman 8-5
Henry Orner 8-6
Aden Minaker 4-8
Stephen Gorenstein 8-7
Steven Kleytman/ Aden Minaker 3-6 2-6
Henry Orner/ Stephen Gorenstein 6-3 6-4

A new season: a new team and new doubles pairings. To kickstart the campaign we were playing at BLTC's mod grass courts, with doubles to start off.

Steven and Aden played a pair who hit hard and were in a close first set before it went away from them, going down 3-6. Down an early break in the 2nd set, they couldn't reel it in, going down 2-6.

Henry and Stephen in a short amount of time created chemistry getting to know each others games and playing to their respective strengths. A 3-0 lead, before being equalized at 3all. They then stepped up to take the set 6-3. The 2nd set was more of a tussle, with Henry and Stephen prevailing 6-4.

To the singles: Steven/ Stephen kickstarted proceedings.

Steven got out to a double break lead for 4-1. However his opponent got it back on his terms for 5all. Steven then prevailed on the bigger points for a 8-5 win.

 After being well on top for a strong lead at 7-4 Stephen began to play within his shell only to find a way to regain the momentum in the tiebreak eventually winning 8-7.

Aden had the match on his terms for a 4-2 lead (and could have possibly had a bigger lead). However, Aden's serve dropped, along with his opponent opening up Aden's weakness for Aden to lose the next 6 games, going down 4-8.

Henry and his opponent played in a hard hitting match, with not many long points. It was break for break early on (1all). By this stage, everyone watching knew that whoever won this match would win the day. The hard hitting continued (with holds of serve) before Henry finally got the vital break for 7-5. However the opponent lifted to get it back on serve. Thankfully Henry was composed and got the final break for a 8-6 win.

Overall: Great way to start the season! 4 close singles that could have gone either way. 

- Joel Rabinov

Section 9 Maccabi 6-8-56 defeated Kooyong 0-0-14

Jesse Stowe-Lindner 8-2
Ben Pollak 8-2
Sebastian Raboy 8-0
Ash Raboy 8-0
Jesse Stowe-Lindner/ Ben Pollak 6-1 6-4
Sebastian Raboy/ Ash Raboy 6-1 6-4

Will keep it nice, short and sharp today. Overall a largely new team for us this season but started off with some familiar faces: Jesse, myself, Seb and Ash. 
Great start to the season, with everyone having a fairly convincing win, although in all the matches there were tight games and maybe the scoreline didn’t fully reflect the contest, it was nevertheless a fantastic start. 
In doubles, each pair probably got the biggest challenge in their respective second sets, but never seemed in too much trouble.

- Ben Pollak