On a perfect Autumn day to start the season, 5 out of 7 teams won.

Tennis Victoria Winter Pennant

Grade 5 Section 3 Maccabi 3-6-48 defeated Vermont 3-4-45

Jordan Jaffe/ Marty Schwarz 3-8
Jonny Henquin/ Steven Kleytman 8-5
Jordan Jaffe 6-4 6-3
Marty Schwarz 4-6 6-4 6-10
Jonny Henquin 6-0 6-3
Steven Kleytman 1-6 2-6

After 2 months off we are finally back, and as a good welcome back gift, we had a 40 minute drive to Vermont (not as long as Drouin though!).

This week we had our regular team from last season, and even though the opposition had en tou cas courts, we played our matches on hard court. 

In the doubles, Marty and Jordan played well but couldn’t get into their regular groove, lacking a bit of consistency and allowing the opposition to control the points, going down 3-8. Whilst Jonny and Steve played really well together, defeating a strong opposition pair 8-5.

In singles, Jordan played an extremely consistent opponent who didn’t hit many winners but also hit very few unforced errors. However, in a long 2 hour match, Jordan played smart to win in straight sets. 

Marty on the other hand had a frustrating game. Playing a very good and powerful 21 year old, most points had 10+ shot ralleys that went 50/50 every time. Marty did very well to get the match to a 3rd set super, but unfortunately just went down. Jonny was an absolute superstar on the court, playing some of the best and aggressive tennis I’ve ever seen, matching his opponent for power and doing one better, Jonny raced to a 6-0 first set, and never missed a beat to win the next 6-3. Whilst Steve even though he played a very good no.4, was not at his best while also carrying a back injury, going down in straight sets. 

Overall, we end up winning by a set, a result in which we will definitely take as it looks like it will be a very competitive section this season.

- Jordan Jaffe

Grade 7 Section 4 Maccabi 3-6-53 defeated Berwick 3-4-43

Rob Minc/ Saul Muscatel 4-8
Steve Gostin/ Jan Tenenberg 8-3
Rob Minc 6-3 6-0
Saul Muscatel 4-6 1-6
Steve Gostin 5-4 6-7 5-10
Jan Tenenberg 6-4 6-3

On a nice winter day at home, first-time doubles combination Rob and Saul were outplayed by a good pair; some solid tennis being played but just fell short. Steven and Jan, becoming quite the doubles combination, had a good win to balance the day going into singles.

Rob was solid as always with his great serve followed by an imposing net game which is difficult to beat on any day and his opponent didn’t come close. A strong performance.

Saul played, what I thought was probably the opposition’s best player, in an engaging and close encounter in the first set but hit some injury troubles in the second to go down in a good quality match.

Steve, as most of time, wanted to get his money’s worth by playing an almost endless match with two tie breaks. In the end he just fell short against an opponent who played the same type of defensive game Steve loves playing; Steve hardly missed a shot but it just kept coming back and it was anybody’s game. A close loss in the end but got us the crucial set to win the day.

Jan was 0:3 down within minutes against a hard-hitting young opponent but re-grouped his mental state and went to Plan B which resulted in him winning the next 12 out of 15 games to win the match. A consistent performance in the end proving that the mind is stronger than the hands.

Overall, a good start to our season and given who is still to make an appearance for our team, I feel we are well placed to go deep into the season. We have some excellent doubles combinations which will set up our singles players well. 

- Jan Tenenberg

Grade 8 Section 3 Maccabi 5-8-61 defeated BLTC 1-2-34

Lachie Zuker/ Arvid Kreimer 8-4
Ryan Behr/ Lior Rauchberger 8-4
Lachie Zuker 2-6 4-6
Ryan Behr 6-4 6-1
Lior Rauchberger 6-0 6-0 (Forfeit)
Arvid Kreimer 6-4 7-5

Playing away  in perfect weather conditions saw Maccabi get a great start to the season. The highlight was getting two doubles wins with both pairs having never played together.  Lachie was most impressive with his ball striking and Arvid is the veritable energiser bunny. Lior, training for the Maccabiah is a great addition as a left hander is always a tricky proposition. Ryan the super athlete now plays consistently every week.

Next week will be a real test playing a new team that easily beat the Kings Park team that we have a rivalry with. The opposition will have three doubles players with doubles UTRs over 7.1 with their fourth ranking player having a UTR of 6.9.

- Adam Needleman

Grade 8 Section 3 Maccabi 5-6-55 defeated Patterson Lakes 1-4-52

Ilay Givoni/ Nathan Rapoport 9-7
Jay Landau/ Charlie Landau 4-8
Jay Landau 7-6 6-3
Ilay Givoni 2-6 7-6 11-9
Nathan Rapoport 4-6 6-3 10-8
Ben Pollak 6-1 4-6 12-10

With our squad of 7 with quite a few players who haven't played alongside each other, we went with familiarity for our doubles pairs at home aginast Patterson Lakes.

Ilay and Nathan who despite not being at their best, did enough to prevail 9-7 (including a left hander who got replaced for the singles at #4).

The Landau brothers were looking set, however Charlie injured himself, with them going down 4-8.

Jay played in the quickest singles match of the day, a tight 2 setter! Jay got the early break for 3-0 and had chances to serve out the set (had set points at 6-5) as well as get more breaks early in the 2nd set, but did enough for a comfortable 7-6, 6-3 win for his first winter pennant singles win for us.

Ilay found his match with an opponent who matched Ilay with the one handed backhands as well as drop shot for drop shot! Both were hard hitting, with Ilay dropping the 1st set 2-6. The second set was mostly on serve, with Ilay prevailing in the tiebreak, and then on his 2nd match point converting the match tiebreaker 11-9.

Nathan (who was promoted to #3 with Charlie's injury) dropped the opening set 4-6, before stepping up for 6-3. Down 5-8 in the match tiebreak, Nathan stepped up to win the final 5 points of the match!

Joel did his one contribution for the day: finding a fill in. Neither Zvi or Ian were available, but a million to one odds forfeit (see below grade 10) meant Ben Pollak was able to fill in. Ben wasted no time in getting out to a 6-1 lead. However the tide turned as his opponent stepped up for 4-6 and had 2 match points in the match tiebreaker. Ben was able to step up for a 12-10 win and earn us all 4 singles rubbers for the day.

Overall: A great start to the season for our new look team! Our biggest concern is injuries. However with 7 in our side, if you aren't physcially right, we should have the numbers to cover it (provided it doesn't happen midmatch). Next week we chase back to back victories, with an away game on the East Malvern en tout cas.

 - Joel Rabinov

Grade 10 Section 4 Maccabi 6-10-64 defeated Lauriston 0-0-0 (Forfeit)

- Ash Raboy

Grade 11 Section 2 Maccabi 2-2-40 defeated by BLTC 4-8-59

Errol Dorfan / Jacob Nathan 5-8
Daniel Vertes/ Aden Minaker 8-5
Errol Dorfan 6-7 4-6
Daniel Vertes 3-6 6-3 13-11
Aden Minaker 4-6 3-6
Jacob Nathan 1-6 0-6

We were up against four quality juniors playing well above their UTRs.

Errol's rubber was a case of younger legs outlasting older legs in a 2 hour and 15 minute marathon.

Daniel's rubber commenced at 4:30pm due to the lack of available courts. He saved two match points in the tie-break before securing a memorable win. Unfortunately, Daniel's wife was not impressed with the late finish.

 - Daniel Vertes

Grade 12 Section 3 Maccabi 2-4-41 defeated by Upwey South 4-6-58

Stephen Gorenstein/ Daniel Brami 8-4
David Cropman/ Jonathan Krywicki 1-8
Stephen Gorenstein 7-6 6-4
Daniel Brami4-6 7-6 3-10
David Cropman 4-6 2-6
Jonathan Krywicki 1-6 1-6

The Maccabi Section 12 men's team kicked off the season with a spirited clash against a youthful and energetic Upwey South TC 3rds, ultimately going down 2-4 in a match that pitted experience against exuberance.

The team featured seasoned campaigner Stephen Gorenstein alongside three debutants—Daniel Brami, Jonathon Krywicki, and David Cropman.

Stephen G showed his class, grinding out a gritty singles win and combining strongly with Dan Brami to notch a convincing 8-4 doubles victory. Dan Brami also took his singles to a super tiebreak, displaying plenty of fighting spirit in his first outing.

Jonny K and Dave C, facing a highly motivated Upwey duo, gave it their all but were outplayed on the day. 

While the final result didn’t go our way, the foundations were laid, the nerves shaken off.

It was a tough but valuable opener with clear signs of promise. Plenty to work on, but plenty to look forward to.

 -  Daniel Brami