Winning run continues for Rotorua tennis teams

Rotorua tennis player Aliya Edwards lines up a shot at the Rotorua Tennis Club on Saturday. Photo/Ben Fraser

The Rotorua-Lynmore men's and Rotorua women's tennis teams have proven they will once again be the teams to beat in this season's Western Bay of Plenty premier competition.

Both playing at home on Saturday, the men made it three wins from three with a 5-1 victory over Otumoetai while the women won their second game of the season, 4-2 over Mount Maunganui.

The men's first seed and captain, Shaun Tamai, rested himself as he is recovering from a neck strain, which gave the team a chance to give other players some valuable experience.

In the singles, having stepped up to first seed, Sean Martin comfortably disposed of Otumoetai's Sean Perry, 6-0, 6-1.

Rotorua's second seed, Mark Ratana, beat Dave Shefferd 6-0, 6-3 and third seed Logan Nathan beat Bruce Walpole 6-4, 6-4.

In his first premier game for Rotorua-Lynmore Brendon McCashin put up a great fight as the match went to a third set, but ultimately fell short against Otumoetai's Aidan Dunn 7-6, 4-6, 4-6.

It was a clean sweep for the Rotorua-Lynmore men in the doubles as Martin and Ratana beat Perry and Shefferd 6-2, 6-2, and Nathan teamed up with Greg Burt to beat Walpole and Dunn 7-6, 6-4.

Tamai said the players who stepped up in his absence performed well.

"They played quite well. It was actually the perfect time to give those other guys a chance because Otumoetai are usually fairly strong but they were missing their top two seeds. I was very proud of how they played," he said.

Having played, and beaten, the other three teams in the competition, the Rotorua-Lynmore men's team sits on top of the table, four points ahead of Mount Maunganui, going into a two-week break. The team's next game is against Tauranga Lawn at home on October 28.

Rotorua women's team captain Leona Davis-Kaye said the fact that former first seed and representative player Zanna Douglas played at third seed, behind Mia Middleton and Mia Wardlaw, showed the strength of the side. Aliya Edwards played fourth seed.

Middleton's singles match against Mount Maunganui's Kalais Going was a thriller, going all the way to a third set, with Middleton eventually going down 7-5, 3-6 0-6.

Wardlaw beat Deborah Garea 6-2, 6-4, Douglas beat Danielle Cooke 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 in another triple-setter and Edwards beat Bridgette Tapsell 6-1, 6-1.

The Mount Maunganui pair of Going and Garea were too strong for Middleton and Douglas, winning 6-2, 6-1.

However, Edwards and Wardlaw sealed the overall victory for Rotorua, beating Helms and Tapsell 10-1 in a tie breaker after the first two sets finished 1-6 and 6-4.

The Rotorua women's next game is against Tauranga Lawn at home on Saturday, November 4.