Gallery ǀ New year tennis championships provide exhilarating start to sporting season

Finals were held on Wednesday, January 5.

Tennis of a high calibre played out in the tournament’s main events — the open men’s and women’s A singles — with some major upsets providing an added layer of excitement.

Number five seed Brendan Moore ran out the eventual winner in the open men’s A singles, overcoming fourth seed Matthew Leffler after he was forced to retire in the quarter-finals, before beating out seventh seed Nick De Vivo 6-3, 6-3 in a final that lasted one hour and 29 minutes.

A hotly contested men’s B singles division had David Poole come away victorious, after an almost perfect run to the finals where he dropped only two games across three matches.

He would meet second seed James Curtis-McDonald in the final, the two playing out a thrilling encounter with Poole clinching a 6-3, 6-1 victory.

Rich River Rebels tennis star Josh Bavich walked away with a pair of titles, after a semi-final loss in the mixed doubles robbed him of a trifecta of wins.

Bavich contested the open men’s C singles, the open men’s B doubles with Deagan Tomkins and the open mixed event with Isabella Crossman.

Shepparton’s Eliza Long competed in the open women’s A singles as number one seed, defeating Whitney Moon in a hard-fought encounter in the quarter-finals, before her opponent Laquisa Khan retired in the semi-finals which advanced her to the final.

There, she would meet Emerson Jones, who had enjoyed a dominant run to her finals appearance after her first two opponents had withdrawn, only dropping five games in her two matches.

Jones followed up her resounding scores in her previous games with an almost perfect performance in the final against Long, winning 6-0, 6-1.

Third seed Kirrily McConachy defied the odds to clinch the open women’s B singles title, defeating fourth seed Erin Stojcevski in the final 7-5, 6-3.