Wairarapa came with a late rush in their senior representative tennis match with Manawatu at Masterton on Sunday but it was all to no avail. The home side went into the combined doubles trailing by 6-9 and needing to win all four rubbers there to secure overall victory. It was abig ask but they went close, winning three out of four to lose the match by just 9-10. Selector Steve Hurley was delighted with the combines results but disappointed with Wairarapa securing just the one victory in the men's singles, a section where they hoped to dominate. The sole success there came from Chris Schofield, in what was his debut appearance at this level. "Quite frankly we thought the men would do a lot better...to get only the one singles was a real surprise," he said. " And it made all the difference to the end result, just one more win there and we would have sneaked in." The women's singles saw Wairarapa win three of the four rubbers , thanks to Katie Wyeth, Leanne Sweeney and Natasha Robinson, while the men's and women's doubles went to Manawatu 3-2. Wyeth and Sweeney finished the match with three wins from as many matches. Meanwhile Opaki scrambled to a 5-4 win over Carterton in their regional one inter-club match at Opaki on Saturday. With Carterton winning both women's singles through Judy Murrell and Cathy Rolls the singles were drawn at 3-3 and Opaki gained their winning edge by taking two of the three doubles. Results, (Opaki names first) Men's singles: Russell Broughton beat Liam McMenamin 6-0, 6-0; Brett Dymond lost to Chris Schofield 4-6, 2-6; Hamish Fenemor beat Jacky Chan 6-0, 6-4; Richie Gaskin beat Ted Rotman 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. Women's singles: Jan Wyeth lost to Judy Murrell 6-7, 6-3, 2-6; Bridget Needham lost to Cathy Rolls 3-6, 1-6. Men's doubles: Broughton and Dymond beat McMenamin and Dymond 6-2, 6-3; Fenemor and Gaskin lost to Rotman and Chan 2-6, 1-6. Women's doubles: Wyeth and Needham beat Murrell and Rolls 6-2, 6-4.
