In Round 2, two out of seven Maccabi teams won. There were two washouts and the Maccabi Sunday Pennant team won their first match (with Round 1 being washed out).

There were club debuts for Gidon Scop and Reuben Zelwer, while experienced doubles player Michael Silberthau played his first Pennant match.

As advised by email, works have commenced to install lights on Courts 5-8. These courts will not be available for booking online. Six courts will still be available for weekend competition matches as the lighting supplier works on two courts at a time. This will double the capacity for night-time tennis.

Below is the Maccabi Grade 18 team: Henry Orner, Joel Rabinov, Paul Rubinstein and Stephen Gorenstein.

TENNIS VICTORIA WINTER PENNANT

Grade 5 Section 2 Maccabi washed out against BLTC

Grade 8 Section 2 Maccabi 4-5-48 defeated Bundoora 2-3-40

Jordan Jaffe/ Gidon Scop 7-5 6-2
Ilay Givoni/ Reuben Zelwer 6-3 6-2
Jordan Jaffe 8-5
Gidon Scop 8-6
Ilay Givoni 8-2
Reuben Zelwer 6-8

After round 1 ended in a washout, we were grateful that we finally got to play our real round 1 this weekend. Although Bundoora is not a place I’d want to go back to, with how much traffic there was on the way there and back. Anyway, although they had 3 different surfaces at the club, we played on the mod grass which was one of the slippery surfaces I’ve ever played on.

In doubles, we had 2 first time pairings. Jordan and Gidon started slow, having multiple break point opportunities without any reward. However from 5-5, they went on a 6 game winning streak, resulting in a 7-5, 6-2 win. Whilst, Ilay and Reuben also struggled to get going in both sets, falling short to 2 very good servers.

In singles, Jordan played against a tricky opponent and struggled to get used to the mod grass courts, however, at 6-6 Jordan won some very big points to win the match 8-6. 

Gidon started strong in his club debut, taking charge and maintaining a lead for the entirety of the match. Despite some strong hitting from his opponent, Gidon’s consistency and match for power led him to a 8-5 win.

Ilay (our super emergency) was excellent from the get go. Playing some of the smartest tennis I’ve seen, and just dominating the court, leading to a 8-2 win.

Whilst Reuben on his club debut played an extremely tough match, with no player able to take a lead of more than 2 games throughout the match. Unfortunately from 6-6 30-30, Reuben lost a critical point which led him to just go down 8-6 in a match that could have easily gone his way.

At the end of the day, a fantastic result to get Maccabi first win in over a decade on a Sunday, with hopefully many more to come

- Jordan Jaffe

Grade 10 Section 2 Maccabi 2-3-42 defeated by BLTC 4-5-48

Ilay Givoni/ Luka Federman 6-7 2-6
Marcus Frajman/ Michael Silberthau 6-4 6-3
Ilay Givoni 4-8
Marcus Frajman 8-9
Luka Federman 8-3
Daniel Vertes 2-8

In doubles, Ilay and Luka were given the challenge of playing as pair 1. They tried their best and although they were competitive in the first set, they couldn't press on. Marcus and Michael Silberthau partnered well. For Michael, it was a step up from the standard he is used to but he looked assured at the net and from the back of the court. A late injury scare for Michael threatened to disrupt momentum and although it kept him out of the singles rubber, Marcus and Michael controlled the play to win the match.

In singles, Ilay challenged his talented opponent and asked lots of questions before falling short. Marcus assumed an early lead against a lefthander with a damaging forehand and went down in a tiebreak set. Luka played sensational tennis with his groundstrokes on both sides a feature to win our second match. Daniel Vertes subbed in for Michael as an injury replacement and fought valiantly against a very experienced player.

- Marcus Frajman

Grade 14 Section 2 Maccabi 1-3-32 defeated by Black Rock 5-5-49

Nathan Rapoport/ Lachie Zuker 1-6 6-4 (8-10)
Darion Pohl/ Lior Rauchberger 6-2 6-4
Nathan Rapoport 1-8
Lachie Zuker 2-8
Darion Pohl 2-8
Lior Rauchberger 8-9
 

Good contests in doubles. Led by a set so right in it. In singles opponents one to three were too strong. Lior got out to a 5-2 lead before his very fit younger opponent fought back and claimed a close tiebreaker.

- Nathan Rapoport

Grade 18 Section 2 Maccabi 3-5-51 defeated Glen Waverley 3-3-41

Henry Orner/ Joel Rabinov 7-5 3-6 (3-10)
Paul Rubinstein/ Stephen Gorenstein 6-4 7-5
Paul Rubinstein 4-8
Henry Orner 8-3
Joel Rabinov 8-9
Stephen Gorenstein 8-3

"Good things come for those who wait" (apparently) as the wet weather in the morning had threatened to call off our home game before the weather finally it on for a beautiful sunny afternoon (from 2pm) two close doubles matches ensued.

Henry and Joel played doubles together for the first time, trailing 1-4. However they got it back on track, exploiting the opponents weaknesses to take the opening set 7-5. In the 2nd set the opponents swapped sides (serve as well as return position) and won the first 3 games that all went to deuce. They kept that buffer to take the set 6-3, before Joel's game slipped in the match tiebreak to go down 3-10.

Paul (kindly filling in) played with Stephen and had slow starts in each set before finishing off the sets greatly to win 6-4, 7-5.

Stephen continued his momentum to take a commanding 3-0 lead. His opponent wasn't able to match him and couldn't fight it out, with Stephen winning 8-1.

Paul had a close match at 3all, before his opponent took control for a 4-8 result.

After being a bit down in the 2nd set of the doubles, Henry stepped it up in his singles for a 8-3 win.

Joel played in by far the closest singles of the day. Joel trailed most of the match, with the match resembling a match of "neither player wanting to take their chances". Joel saved a match point at 6-7, before managing to get the break and then hold for 8-7. However from there, the opponent was clutch, only dropping 1 point across the next 2 points to take the match in a tiebreaker in a performance that was remiscent of prime Djokovic in tiebreaks (the only point Joel managed to win was a forehand passing shot). 

Overall: Great effort to get the win! We now have back to back home matches, so aim to back up this result.

For me personally: the doubles was the best doubles I have played in for some time. However after serving well for 2 sets, my 2nd serve deteriorated in the match tiebreaker (and stayed that way for the singles), whilst my returns (in particular 2nd serves) was horrible the whole day. Very hard to be in a match when I can't even get into a rally (consistently hitting double faults and missing returns). So if I can get that right, plenty to work with.

 - Joel Rabinov

Grade 19 Section 2 Maccabi washed out against Sandhurst

Grade 21 Section 1 Maccabi 2-2-28 defeated by North Ringwood 4-6-47

Blake Golden/ Stephen Kleid 3-6 0-6
Daniel Brami/ Paul Kovacs 2-6 1-6
Russell Golden 4-8
Blake Golden 8-6
Daniel Brami 8-1
Stephen Kleid 2-8

Stephen Kleid & Blake Golden lost 3-6, 0-6
The Maccabi pair competed well early but were unable to maintain scoreboard pressure as their opponents lifted and controlled the remainder of the match.

Dan Brami & Paul Kovacs lost 2-6, 1-6
Dan and Paul were simply no match for their awesomely skilled opponents, who looked as though they belonged in a much, much higher section after being called in as late fill-ins on the day.

Russell Golden (4-8)
Returned to the court to test himself while still recovering from injury. Competed strongly throughout and showed plenty of fight despite not yet being at full fitness.

Blake Golden (8-6)
Produced a terrific comeback win after trailing 3-6, in an intense grind of match vs a very stubborn opponent.

Dan Brami (8-1)
Dispatched his opponent in emphatic fashion, controlling proceedings from start to finish in a dominant display.

Stephen Kleid (2-8)
Faced an outstanding player at #4 who would have looked more than comfortable in a significantly higher section. Despite the tough assignment, Stephen continued to compete hard throughout.

- Daniel Brami