In Round 4, three out of seven Maccabi teams won.

A reminder that it is the expectation for all team members to stay until the completion of all matches to support their teammates and to join for afternoon tea.

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.

TENNIS VICTORIA WINTER PENNANT

Grade 21 Section 1 Maccabi 2-3-36 defeated by BLTC 4-5-49

Daniel Brami/ Blake Golden 4-6 3-6
Daniel Fromm/ Paul Kovacs 6-4 6-4
Daniel Brami 3-8
Blake Golden 8-5
Daniel Fromm 5-8
Paul Kovacs 1-8

Daniel Brami & Blake Golden
Started strongly and had the early momentum, leading 4-2 in the opening set before the wheels unfortunately fell off completely in what became a very frustrating loss. After controlling the early stages, the opposition lifted and the pair were unable to regain momentum.
Daniel Fromm & Paul Kovacs
In their first time playing together, the pairing looked comfortable from the outset and never really seemed in danger of losing control of the match. There were some fantastic rallies throughout, with the highlight being a spectacular volley from Fromm loaded with so much backspin that the ball came back towards him after landing on the opponents’ side. A really strong 6-4 6-4 win.

Daniel Brami faced a tough young opponent who played very well under pressure. Dan gave himself plenty of opportunities throughout the match and regularly found himself ahead in games at 30-love, but just couldn’t quite finish them off. The 8-3 scoreline probably didn’t reflect how competitive large parts of the match were. One of those frustrating afternoons, but full credit to his opponent who performed strongly in the big moments.

Blake returning after some time off, took a little while to get going against an experienced opponent who was not giving away any cheap points. Once Blake found his serve and timing, the match completely turned and his opponent began to buckle under the pressure. A very solid 8-5 win in his return.

Another player returning from injury, Daniel F played a fantastic match filled with some of the best rallies of the afternoon. He made his opponent earn every single point with several long and physical exchanges throughout the contest. Ultimately Daniel fell 8-5 but should be extremely proud of the effort considering he is still not back to 100%.

A later start for Paul’s match certainly didn’t help, with the fading daylight making it difficult to pick up the ball at times. Despite the tough conditions there were still some quality points and rallies played throughout the match.

- Daniel Brami

Grade 19 Section 2 Maccabi 4-5-49 defeated Eildon Park 2-3-41

Sebastian Raboy/ Ashley Raboy 7-5 3-6 (5-10)
Jesse Stowe-Lindner/ Jamie Moshinsky 6-7 6-2 (10-5)
Sebastian Raboy 2-8
Jesse Stowe-Lindner 9-8
Ashley Raboy 8-5
Jamie Moshinsky 8-0

What a weekend for Maccabi TC White Team #2! In a thrilling Round 4 encounter on Saturday, May 23, 2026, Maccabi managed to defend their home courts, securing a hard-fought overall victory against a resilient Eildon Park squad. The day was packed with momentum swings, marathon rallies, and high-stakes tiebreaks.

The day kicked off with two highly competitive doubles rubbers that set the tone for the entire afternoon:

Doubles 1: Eildon Park struck first blood. The duo of Josiah Ho and Lachie Sammann showed great chemistry, overcoming Maccabi’s Sebastian Raboy and Ashley Raboy in a tight two-set battle, 7-5, 3-6, [5-10].

 Doubles 2: Maccabi quickly answered back. Jesse Stowe- Lindner and James Moshinsky rallied after dropping a close first set to Boyang Li and Thomas Anestis. They stormed through the second set and held their nerve in a dramatic match tiebreak to secure a crucial 6-7, 6-2, [10-5] victory, keeping the overall scores deadlocked.

The Singles Showdowns: Maccabi Takes Control

With the match tied at 1-1 after the doubles, everything came down to the singles rubbers. Maccabi’s singles lineup showed incredible depth and mental toughness, taking three out of the four matches.

 Singles 1: Sebastian Raboy bounced back brilliantly from his doubles loss. But Eildon Park's top-rated player, Josiah Ho, took a commanding 2-8 victory over Sebastian today. Next time they play will hopefully be a reverse of this scoreline.

Singles 2: This was the match of the round. After coming off a tight doubles match, Jesse Stowe-Lindner came up against a vocally active opponent in another close game. Jesse fought through long rallies and eventually reached a tiebreak in which he sealed it off 9-8 (9-7). It was a masterclass in grit and physical endurance.

 Singles 3: Ashley Raboy stepped up as captain to deliver another vital point for the home team. Facing a tough challenge from Boyang Li, Ashley broke away late in the set to secure an 8-5 win.

 Singles 4: James Moshinsky put on an absolute clinic in the final rubber. He left no room for doubt, sweeping past Thomas Anestis with a flawless 8-0 "double bagel" pro-set victory to put the icing on the cake for Maccabi.

- Ash Raboy

Grade 18 Section 2 Maccabi 1-1-27 defeated by Epping 5-7-56

Daniel Henquin/ Ben Pollak 5-7 6-3 (10-8)
Joel Rabinov/ Stephen Kleid 6-7 5-7
Daniel Henquin 1-8
Joel Rabinov 0-8
Ben Pollak 0-8
Stephen Kleid 4-8

On the mod-grass of Epping (with the baselines all being distinctly different to the rest of the courts) we were ready to go. Both opposition pairs had one leftie in them.

Daniel and Ben played together for the first time. They led 4-3 before losing momentum, losing the first set (5-7) and down 1-3 in the 2nd. They then stepped up to take the 2nd set 6-3 and the match tiebreaker 10-8.

Joel and Stephen (kindly filling in) started slowly for 1-3. They then devised a gameplan that worked, leading 4-3 and had break points at 15-40. Unfortunately from there, they didn't take the 50:50 points and moments. Lost the first set in a tiebreaker (7-9). Again had leads in 2nd set (2-0 and 4-3) however unable to keep those leads, going down 5-7 in the 2nd set.

After competitive doubles matches, we then had 3 courts available. However we weren't prepared for the blitzkreig that followed with the opposition's perceived weaknesses disappearing. 

Daniel held serve for 1-0 before the opposition captain was in a rush to watch his beloved Pendlebury, turned it on for a clinical 8-1 win.

Ben played a leftie: and the leftie didn’t miss a thing, taking the match 0-8 in one of the quickest sets Ben has played.

Stephen played in by far the closest match of the day. He played a fresh opponent. Trailing 1-4, Stephen managed to get the opponent on the defense for 4all. However his opponent then stepped it up for a 4-8 loss.

Joel played a hard hitting opponent and outplayed for 0-5. The following 3 games where extremely hard fought but couldn't convert, even throwing in the kitchen sink (even served and volleyed for 3 points straight) going down 0-8 (in a match that should have been 3-5 or 4all). 

Overall: Easily the best singles side we have played against. Unfortunately all of our opponents stepped it up after the doubles (felt like they turned into Alcaraz and Djokovic: not missing a thing). Driving home for an hour on an empty stomach after the singles was disappointing (no food provided at Epping). Next week should be the first week where we finally have 4 regulars.

 - Joel Rabinov

Grade 14 Section 2 Maccabi 2-4-42 defeated by North Ringwood 4-4-45

Adam Needleman/ Nathan Rapoport 6-7 6-3 (6-10)
Darion Pohl/ Lior Rauchberger 7-5 4-6 (9-11)
Adam Needleman 3-8
Nathan Rapoport 8-5
Darion Pohl 0-8
Lior Rauchberger 8-3

Playing the top undefeated team was not going to be easy . The top three teams have broken away from the bunch and have two or three players each week who play with UTRs over 7 and some even have players over UTR 8. We don’t have a player over UTR 7 on our list.

Having said that we are capable of winning both doubles with nearly the whole squad having a doubles UTR of 7 or over. SO we need at least one doubles and only a singles or two to scrape a win which is why we sit with two wins and two losses.

This week we played well but our plans looked destroyed early with both pairs being down 1-5 in the first set. Both pairs fought back and both pairs went on to lose in the third set match tie-break. Great efforts against a good team . Unlucky.

In the singles Nathan Rapoport showed why many claim he is the most improved at the club with a gritty singles win and Lior Rauchberger easily accounted for his big hitting but loose opponent. Adam and Darion both looking forward to getting another crack next week in singles. If one of the doubles had swung our way we would have knocked the top side off.

- Adam Needleman

Grade 10 Section 2 Maccabi 1-1-32 defeated by Heatherdale 5-7-51

Ilay Givoni/ Marcus Frajman 3-6 6-7
David Zulman/ Dean Jackson 0-6 1-6
Ilay Givoni 6-8
Marcus Frajman 6-8
David Zulman 5-2 (opponent retired hurt)
Dean Jackson 2-8

Dean and David had some great rallies but were outclassed in their first time playing together. Ilay and Marcus had a slow start but worked their way into the match and weren't able to take the second set. Ilay's net play was a feature.

In singles, fill-in David started brightly, showing athleticism and great court coverage. His opponent hurt his back and was forced to retire. Marcus was locked in a close match and the only break of the match came at 6-6, which proved decisive. Dean gave it his best but was outplayed and is enjoying the challenge this season. Ilay continued his strong form into the singlesand in a highly entertaining match, was narrowly defeated.

- Marcus Frajman

Grade 8 Section 2 Maccabi 5-7-53 defeated Rowville 1-1-20
Jordan Jaffe/ Gidon Scop 6-0 6-0
Ilay Givoni/ Reuben Zelwer 6-0 6-4
Jordan Jaffe 5-8
Gidon Scop 8-2
Ilay Givoni 8-1
Reuben Zelwer 8-5

Playing our second game of the season in round 4 - as our home games have been cursed with washouts, we travelled away to Rowville. 

Playing against a team of 18-22 YOs, we started with the doubles. Jordan and Gidon played some of the cleanest tennis witnessed, controlling every point and making little to no unforced errors to win 6-0 6-0 (an unbelievable result). Ilay and Reuben started brilliantly, putting their 1 game as a pairing experience to go 6-0 5-1 up, before losing a few games but still winning the 2nd set 6-4.

In singles, Jordan came against a classy emergency who just didn’t know how to miss. Unfortunately for Jordan it was the opposite for him, with Jordan missing a lot of gettable shots and going down 8-5 in a match he knows he could have won.

Gidon played against a very strong player and was unbelievable from the start. Matching his opponent for power and controlling the match to win 8-2.

Ilay our favourite emergency, was yet again spectacular. With his impressive drop shots and versatility, Ilay was no match for his opponent winning 8-1.

Reuben also played a very solid match, leading his opponent from the get go, and winning his first match for the club. 

A good result taking us from 2/2 in the matches played so far. 

- Jordan Jaffe

Grade 5 Section 2 Maccabi 4-5-54 defeated Oakleigh 2-3-38

Joel Fredman/ Rob Minc 5-7 6-7
Dean Steinberg/ Marty Schwarz 6-2 6-4
Joel Fredman 8-2
Dean Steinberg 8-5
Marty Schwarz 7-9
Rob Minc 8-2

The Grade 5 team had another solid win against Oakleigh TC. Dean and Marty had a straights sets, solid doubles win which unfortunately Joel and Rob could not replicate. In the singles Dean had an outstanding win against a very tough opponent who got everything back. He played a patient game waiting for his opportunities. Joel dismantled a 16 year old who was very good in the doubles but could not deal with Joel's flat, penetrating balls. Rob had a fairly easy win against a young opponent.

- Rob Minc