Student put early pressure on former mentor in the Whanganui Tennis Club senior men's final

Former senior and junior rep Tim McKenzie worked hard to claim the Whanganui Tennis Club's senior men's title. Photo / Supplied

Representative player Tim McKenzie had a battle on his hands to finally wrest the Whanganui Tennis Club's senior men's title from the hands of the freshly crowned Secondary School champion.

Sasha Milentijevic-Vague from Whanganui Collegiate School, who captured the secondary school title earlier in the day, played McKenzie in the club's senior men's final.

McKenzie played junior and senior reps for Whanganui while helping head coach Kyle Butters run the tennis at Whanganui Collegiate School and the Wanganui Tennis Club in his spare time.

Sasha Milentijevic-Vague pushed his former menotor hrad in the early stages of the Whanganui Tennis Club's senior men's final. Photo / Supplied

The first set was thrilling with each player breaking each other's serves multiple times, finding themselves at 5-5 before McKenzie pulled away winning the set 7-5.

The second set McKenzie used his trademark inside-out topspin putting pressure on his younger opponent, pulling away to a 4-0 lead before Milentijevic-Vague fought back to 4-2.

After a couple of exciting tight games McKenzie went on to take the prestigious title 7-5 6-2.

This was McKenzie's first singles title at the club and he will be watching Milentijevic-Vague's progress over the next year with a rematch surely to come next time around.
Other results included Milentijevic-Vague winning the Secondary School competition, with Whanganui High School's Year 9 student Ruby McIntyre winning both the Secondary School girls' and club women's final. Poon Punnarujawong, from Whanganui Collegiate School, beat Mataamua Amoroa-Biddle (Whanganui City College) in the S10 competition final and Pat McNamara beat Mark Wilson 6-2 6-1 in the B-grade final. Jack Butters also captured the primary/intermediate trophy triumphing over Lucas Miller 4-2 4-1 in the final.