Welcome to Winter Pennant! After two glorious afternoons, Winter has well and truly arrived! For so much of the day, it looked like no play would be possible. The 3 home teams managed to complete doubles before being washed out. Meanwhile, an away team got washed out. Out of the reamining 3 teams, only 1 win (see below picture with Ben Pollak, Ashley Raboy, Henry Orner and Sebastian Raboy.

Below: team captains Joel Rabinov and Geoff Rosenberger with the new Maccabi shorts! Each Maccabi member can collect a pair at the club - this is included in your membership.

Tennis Victoria Winter Pennant

Grade 5 Section 3 Maccabi 3-5-47 defeated by BLTC 3-5-49

Jordan Jaffe/ Jonny Henquin 8-2
Gilad Nagar/ Steven Kleytman 5-8
Jordan Jaffe 6-4 6-2
Jonny Henquin 6-3 7-5
Gilad Nagar 2-6 1-6
Steven Kleytman 6-7 0-6

Fortunately for us, we were playing at Beaumaris on en tout cas so we were able to play despite the rain. In the doubles, Jordan and Jonny played really solid and aggressive doubles to take control and win 8-2. While, Gilad and Steve did really well to fight their way to 4-4 but went down 5-8.

In singles, Jordan managed to outlast a really solid teenager in a very tough battle of consistency, winning in straight sets. Gilad played an extremely difficult opponent who made him run all around the court and never missed, losing in straights. 

At this point, the rain started to fall and we thought we were heading for a washout, but 45 minutes later, at around 4:45pm we were able to start the last 2 singles. Steve played a really solid match, giving it his all in very long matches but just going down 6-7. Unfortunately Steve had important plans that he had to rush to so finishing the first set at 5:45pm meant he had to forfeit the 2nd. Whilst Jonny, played a really strong left hander teenager, in a match that meant a lot to both players, Jonny continued his excellent form to win in straight sets at 6:30pm after being 4-1 down in the 2nd.

Unfortunately we lose by only 2 games, but a day we know we could definitely win if we played this team again.

- Jordan Jaffe

Grade 7 Section 4 Maccabi 2-3-24 washed out against BLTC 0-0-5

Ryan Sharp / Geoff Rosenberger 8-3
Rob Minc / Steven Gostin 8-0
Rob Minc 2-2
Geoff Rosenberger
Ryan Sharp
Steven Gostin 6-0

A rout was on the cards against the bottom side, but alas, the weather made it unplayable. At least we managed to win 2 rubbers which count towards our total.

Not much to report other than another elite showing in the doubles.

- Geoff Rosenberger

Grade 8 Section 3 Maccabi  2-4-46 defeated by Doveton 4-6-54

Marcus Frajman/ Daniel Henquin 8-9
Lior Rauchberger/ Darion Pohl 3-8
Marcus Frajman 7-6 7-5
Lior Rauchberger 3-6 4-6
Daniel Henquin 2-6 0-6
Darion Pohl 5-2 (opposition forfeited)

Lior and Darion had a high quality doubles match as preparation for the Maccabiah Games. Unfortunately, they didn't win the important points and the scoreline doesn't reflect the closeness of the match. Marcus and Daniel were locked in a close battle as well with many exciting rallies. In a match that had ups and downs, they were narrowly edged out in the tiebreak.

Darion started brightly and was leading 5-2 before his opponent retired hurt. A promising start. Lior had many running rallies with a fellow lefthander - although he went down 3-6 4-6, he is gaining match play experience and proving that he is a great acquisition for our team. Marcus had a very close match and was able to overcome his heavy hitting opponent. Daniel started well but was outplayed by a talented junior.

- Marcus Frajman

Grade 8 Section 3 Maccabi 1-1-18 washed out against Kings Park 1-1-15

Ilay Givoni/ Nathan Rapoport 8-4
Joel Rabinov/ Zvi Schweitzer 6-8
Ilay Givoni 3-2
Joel Rabinov 1-1
Zvi Schweitzer
Nathan Rapoport

After a few late changes and false starts, we evantually got underway at Maccabi at 1pm against Kings Park.

Ilay and Nathan got off to a slow start (0-2), before stepping it up to get it back on serve for 2all. They kept going to lead 7-3, before closing it out for a 8-4 win.

Zvi and Joel (who haven't played doubles on the same side of the court since last decade), got off to a good start: well for Zvi at least, holding serve to 15 and winning all his return points against the lefite serve. Unfortunately, Joel (off of a good 6 weeks of not playing) was rusty and couldn't even return a leftie serve hit at 50% pace. From there, the opposition (who play doubles together all the time) kept winning the 50:50 points and games for 5-1. Joel then turned up a level to hold serve followed by a break and hold for 5-4. Eventually got back to 6all. Unfortunately the opposition didn't miss after that: taking the win 8-6.

Ilay was playing well for a 3-2 lead, before the rain arrived.

Joel won the opening point and then played the best 4 points he had played the whole day (hitting the ball deep and near lines yet losing points). It felt like playing peak Djokovic: the ball; kept coming back (and deep) and getting broken. Then managed a break the following game before the rain set in.

Overall: A missed opportunity, but a day that could have gone either way. Ultimately, we are in good shape. Remarkably, out of the 8 players who played, our opposition had the 4 highest doubles utr's! Yet Nathan and Ilay had their doubles under control, whilst Zvi and Joel kept losing the 50:50 points and moments (let alone the fact that Joel wasn't as aggressive as usual). On another day, we would have won both doubles. Anyway, onto the big derby next week! The heavyweights for the two sides: Yours truly (Junior Co-Ordinator) coming up against the President (Ryan Behr), Pennant Co-Ordinator (Adam Needleman) and Treasurer (Marcus Frajman). Plus plenty of talent either side of that quartet! Grab the popcorn for the big clash!

 - Joel Rabinov

Grade 10 Section 4 Maccabi 4-5-56 defeated BLTC 2-5-44

Henry Orner/ Ben Pollak 6-8
Sebastian Raboy/ Ashley Raboy 8-2
Ben Pollak 4-6 4-6
Henry Orner 7-5 6-0
Sebastian Raboy 6-1 5-7 10-6
Ashley Raboy 3-6 6-3 10-7

BLTC never told us that our match was being played at Bodley St courts, but lucky we are always early. Found out on a sign stuck up on a window at BLTC.

Ben and Henry started well and game was pretty even but unfortunately in the middle of the set couldn’t win some crucial break points. Although, made a great comeback to get back equal after being 7-4 down, couldn’t quite get the win.

Pair No. 2, Seb and Ash won 8-2. Great to have Seb back after injury lay-off and rested, wasn't sure if left calf was going to cramp up again.

Ben had a pretty even match, first set was all on serve except getting broken in the middle of the set, opponent was too strong on serve. Second set Ben started great going up 4-1 but seemed to struggle to close it out, losing crucial points once again, going down 6-4.

Henry had a very close in the first set 7-5 only breaking him once. Came back stronger in the second and had fun to win 6-0.

Ash played no. 4 and lost the first set. 3-6, then won the 2nd set 6-3, and then Ash won the Super Tie-Break 10-7

Would have preferred en-tous-cas so at least you can see ball marks, get my drift, but at Bodley St, mod grass courts.

Seb played as no. 3, and won the first set 6-1, then lost 2nd set 5-7, and then Seb won the  super tiebreak 10-6.

Winners are grinners and we are the Champions, my Friends!!

- Ash Raboy

Grade 11 Section 2 Maccabi 0-0-10 washed out against Bulleen 3-4-36

Errol Dorfan/ Daniel Vertes 4-8
Jacob Nathan/ Jonathan Krywicki 1-8
Errol Dorfan 2-3
Daniel Vertes
Jacob Nathan 1-5
Jonathan Krywicki 0-6 2-6

A big thank you Jonathan for filling in today! very much appreciated.

Unfortunate to admit that the rain saved us from total defeat. In doubles, Errol and Daniel's opposition pulled away after an early close encounter at 5-4.

- Daniel Vertes

Grade 12 Section 3 Maccabi 1-0-5 washed out against Tennis World 1-1-14

Stephen Gorenstein/ Stephen Kleid 5-6
Damien Wurzel/ David Cropman 0-8
Stephen Gorenstein
Stephen Kleid
Damien Wurzel
David Cropman

The forecast said rain, and for once, it didn’t lie. But with a brief dry spell teasing a window of play, both Maccabi TC and Tennis World turned up ready to roll the dice.

Upon arrival, the courts resembled a mirror lake more than a tennis surface, but both teams got to work with towels and squeegees—anything to make the surface playable. The goal: squeeze in as much tennis as possible before the weather turned again.

Gorenstein and Kleid were mid-battle in a tight doubles match, trailing narrowly at 5-6 when the skies started to threaten. Meanwhile, Wurzel and Cropman faced a tough Tennis World duo and went down 0-8 before the rain called time.

Unfortunately, the singles matches never got underway as the rain returned.

A frustrating day, but both sides made the most of it. On to the next round with a bit more sunshine please.

 -  Daniel Brami