Former Hawke's Bay No1 John Francois has enhanced his reputation as the province's most successful interclub tennis player.
The Hastings kingpin, who has won 16 Hawke's Bay residential singles titles and helped his club win at least 14 four-man titles, added a third two-man title to his CV when Hastingswalloped hosts Greendale 3-0 in the final of the Thump Sports two-man comp on Friday night.
Francois' form belied his age of 51 and he was too consistent for promising Lindisfarne College junior Andrew Shand, taking out the top singles 6-0 6-1. His long-time teammate Jason Kitching also had too many shots for Napier Boys' High junior Albert Rocard and posted a 6-4, 6-1 win.
Hastings completed their clean sweep with a 6-0 6-1 victory in the doubles. The Hastings team also included Kitching's son Stefen, who had to withdraw from the final with an injury after having the No1 singles berth throughout the comp.
"It was great to see more juniors involved in our initial premier tennis event," Hawke's Bay Tennis regional development officer Paul Evans said.
"We have the women's final on Friday and this competition's strength is growing. Also, this weekend will see the start of the four-man premier grade comp, with more events scheduled post-Christmas. This is all part of our plan to provide more playing opportunities and get tennis humming in the Bay.
"There are some major changes going on with local tennis, which is now being run by a committee of Hawke's Bay locals. This is part of a move by the regional body, Tennis Waikato Bays, to give regions like ours more autonomy.
"It has been fantastic to have the support of committed local tennis people ... We have more competitions for competitive players but are also focusing on schools and non-competitive opportunities to get more community reach.
