On a true winter's day, 0 out of 6 sides won. We are at the halfway stage of the season, with the Grade 5 team in best position to win a final. Most other sides are in contention for finals.

Pictured: Aaron Kramer and his opponent after putting on a high quality classic under lights.

Grade 5 Section 3 Maccabi 2-4-49 defeated by Burden Park 4-6-55

Jordan Jaffe/ Marty Schwarz 8-9
Jonny Henquin/ Rob Minc 5-8
Jordan Jaffe 2-6 3-6
Marty Schwarz 7-5 6-4
Jonny Henquin 2-6 3-6
Rob Minc 7-5 6-0 

Heading to a team I have never heard of before today- Burden Park, we started with the doubles. Jonny and Rob started well but started to lose their rhythm as the match went on, whilst Marty and Jordan fought hard from 6-3 to take it to a tiebreak, narrowly losing 14-12 after already saving 6 match points earlier. 
In the singles, Jordan struggled to get going- getting out powered and beaten by a better opponent.

Marty played really good consistent and smart tennis to take control of his match and win in straight sets.
Jonny unfortunately couldn't get his game going and couldn't play the way he likes to play. Whole Rob came back from 0-3 down to win the first set 7-5, which led to his opponent not being in the right state to play the 2nd set, leading to a forfeit (probably due to being too scared to lose to Rob). Ultimately we just came short- we struggled with the quickness of the mod grass and weren't used to it, but know that on our hard courts, we should be able to get the job done against that team.

- Jordan Jaffe

Grade 7 Section 3 Maccabi 3-4-50 defeated by Harkaway 3-6-49

Jess Flicker/ Geoff Rosenberger 9-7
Arvid Kreimer/ Marcus Frajman 8-4
Jess Flicker 4-6 4-6
Geoff Rosenberger 6-7 3-6
Arvid Kreimer 0-6 4-6
Marcus Frajman 6-0 6-1

Both Maccabi pairs started slowly. Jess and Geoff were down 5-1 but worked their way back into the match. Arvid and Marcus were down 3-1 and gradually took control of the match. Marcus won convincingly and quickly so we needed one more rubber (or at least a set). Harkaway are 2nd on the ladder and proved why as Jess, Geoff and Arvid fought hard but were unable to secure the required rubber. Jess played a very consistent and talented opponent. Geoff was involved in lots of close rallies but couldn't quite take his chances. Arvid is short on match play after his long term injury but is showing great signs and was close to forcing a super tiebreak. It was a very even day and very little separating the two sides. A good sign at the halfway point of the season.

- Marcus Frajman

Grade 8 Section 3 Maccabi 2-3-40 defeated by BLTC 4-7-59

Ilay Givoni/ Steven Kleytman 9-8
Jack Eydlish/ Nathan Rapoport 7-9
Ilay Givoni 3-6 2-6
Steven Kleytman 0-6 0-6 (Forfeit)
Jack Eydlish 4-6 3-6
Nathan Rapoport 6-4 6-2

Stephen and Ilay had a shaky start to the doubles being down 1:4. From there the doubles became more consistent leading to a close win of 9-8.
Yak and Nathan kindly filled in and got in a close match getting to 7 all then unfortunately weren't able to close it losing 7-9.
In singles Ilay played a good solid player who had good control over the game.
Unfortunately Steve had to retire as he was unable to play without further injuring himself. Yak played a very intense match against a younger player. There were great points from both ends but unfortunately the young player got the lead in the end. Nathan played a junior prodigy and managed to control the match perfectly getting a great win.

- Ilay Givoni

Grade 9 Section 3 Maccabi 2-4-48 defeated by Lanwarrin 4-6-56

Aaron Kramer/ Daniel Goodrich 6-8
Joel Rabinov/ Ian Altman 2-8
Aaron Kramer 6-4 4-6 (11-13)
Joel Rabinov 6-3 6-2
Daniel Goodrich 3-6 2-6
Ian Altman 5-7 7-6 (10-4)

On the high bouncing Langwarrin hardcourts, we were ready (or so we thought).

Aaron and Daniel hit the ground running, leading 5-0. However, their opposition stepped up a level to win 8 of the 9 next games for a 6-8 loss.

Joel and Ian just didn't get going (returned awfully and got outhit within 4 shots of each rally) and at 0-4 was staring down the barel of 0-8, but at least got 2 games for 2-8.

Ian and his opponent (who hit hard) traded breaks, before Ian held serve for 4-2. Ian then led 5-3, but unable to close out the set (5-7). The close match continued to be close, with Ian just holding the edge in the 2nd set tiebreak and match tiebreaker (10-4).

Daniel played well for a 3all scoreline. However (again) his opponent stepped up, his nasty backhand slice/ drop shot (Alcaraz like) to win the next 8 games, Daniel losing 3-6 2-6.

Joel had a slow start (0-2) before made a few changes and got on a roll for 6-3, 4-0. Unfortunately didn't close the match as well as planned, getting broken twice, however able to break for 6-2.

Aaron played in a high quality match. He got away to a perfect start for 3-0, but from there it was a contest. He led 5-2 and had a chance to serve it out (5-3) before breaking for 6-4. 2nd set was all on serve (up till 4all) and with the lights taking over (and the crowd all staying in the chilly conditions) to watch some excellent shot making. Unfortunately the opponent stepped up his game just a bit more to take the 2nd set 6-4. Aaron had a lead in the match tieabreaker (had 9-7) however wasn't able to close it out, going down 11-13.

Overall: The damage was done in the doubles. Unfortately Joel and Ian threw in a stinker of a doubles (and managed to beat those same players in the singles). Personally, great to know I can defend a court when I really need to. Hit plenty of passing shots. But the best point was at 5-3 30all: I actually hit a backhand from the next court (from inside the singles line); I ended up winning that point about 10 shots later! Next week we return to the en tout cas as we aim for our first away win.

- Joel Rabinov

Grade 10 Section 3 Maccabi 3-4-45 defeated by Monash Uni 3-6-54

Ben Pollak/ Jack Stock 4-8
Charlie Landau/ Sebastian Raboy 8-5
Ben Pollak 6-1 3-6 (10-3)
Charlie Landau 1-6 2-6
Jack Stock 6-7 1-6
Sebastan Raboy 7-6 6-3

We started our crucial 3rd vs 4th matchup with doubles. Jack and Ben started great, leading 4-2 but as their opponents lifted and our tennis dropped off, they unfortunately went down 8-4.

Charlie and Seb in contrast were great throughout, leading from wire to wire 8-5. 

In singles, Charlie unfortunately was outclassed against a player who was absolutely on fire, no shame in losing to player who was performing at such a high standard. 

Seb started amazing, going up 5-1 and although some very nervous times arose as his opponent got it into a tiebreak, Seb was able to hold his nerve and close it out. The second set was fortunately a bit more straight forward, winning it 6-3.

Likewise with Seb, Ben started fantastic in singles, actually winning the first set 6-1 in great fashion, but as his opponent lifted he took the second set. However after a little refresher, Ben was able to finally close out a 3rd set match tiebreak, his first singles win of the season.

In contrast to Seb, Jack started slow, going down 4-1, but he then was able to change the game a bit and frustrate his opponent, getting up 5-4 and 6-5. However he couldn’t close out the very very very long first set, losing it in a tiebreak. With similarly long points, the second set was a struggle for Jack, going down 6-1.

Overall, disappointing to lose but we know we still have a half of the season remaining, plenty of time to get some momentum back.

 - Ben Pollak

Grade 10 Section 4 Maccabi 0-0-18 defeated by Parkdale 6-10-65

Riley Brick/Jacob Nathan 2-8
Paul Kovacs/ George Mehl 3-8
Riley Brick 3-6 0-6
Jacob Nathan 0-6 0-6
George Mehl 0-6 0-6
Paul Kovacs 6-7 4-6

We played a very strong  team which is second on the ladder.
Riley and Jacob had some great points but their were opponents were too strong in the end.

Paul and George M had most games  go to deuce and closer than the scores indicate.

Riley singles was the most competitive battle he has had all season: some amazing points and very close games. The scoreboard didn't go his way and didn't reflect how close and fun it was.

Paul singles took forever against a big in size and hitting 15 year old who is a top junior hoping to go to college in America to play tennis.
The first set tiebreaker was very close. Paul was 4-1 up in the second set and decided he did my bit and wasn’t looking forward to play longer as my hand was cramping.
As it did not have any bearing on the results Paul was happy with finishing.
George had to wait for Paul's match to finish and he was cold and his opponent was good as the score indicates.

- Paul Kovacs