Newry Tennis Club
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MD
There was an historic final for the Men’s Doubles Closed as for the first time in this particular format, a brother team reached the final. Indeed it was a great occasion for the Smith family as Tim the winner in 2009 and 2014 teamed up with older brother Gary. In fact this was the first ever main draw final for Gary at the age of 41 and you could tell it meant something to the duo. Unfortunately for them on the other side of the net was Shane McAteer who has been dominating the Newry tennis scene in recent years and he was odds on favourite yet again this time with Rory O’Loughlin in only his second year playing the sport. The first three games were long drawn out deuce affairs but Shane and Rory seemed to win the more vital points. Tim was trying to hit the ball as hard as possible and was hitting extravagant winners but it was not enough as Shane continued to assert his play and Rory was efficient at the net. It eventually turned into a comfortable win for Shane with his fourth Closed Doubles title and a first ever tennis trophy for Rory.
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XD
Marie Pearse and Malachy McAteer Jnr had won the Mixed Plate last year and now actually 16 months later were participating in the main final so a good leap upwards. Marie was trying to do a Chris Evert Jimmy Connors 1974 Wimbledon double, a reference to these 2 superstars who won when dating back then. Earlier in the day Marie’s boyfriend Rory has won the MD. On the other side of the net was June McEvoy one of the great female players in this region and Alex Staselovich now resident in Dundalk. It was a long match Mal covered court extremely well and was very athletic intercepting with many volley winners. Alex is known for his basketball dunk shot and he smashed well controlling the net. June performed well in baseline rallies especially with her bh slice lob., Mal and Marie took a 3-2 in deciding set as families and fan members looked on with delight at such a good spectacle. It was the more experienced pair who pulled through and won last 4 games one of best mixed closed doubles final. There were many long deuce games and June hit 3 volleys in her last 3 shots to win the match.
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XDP Written by James O'Hare
The mixed doubles plate final took place on court 2 with the teams of deirdre and James vs eve and the ever improving Sean. The mind games began from the start as Sean and eve elected to switch ends in an attempt to gain the advantage early on. However the match was tight as expected and Deirdre and James took a 3-2 lead. In the 6th game eve and Sean stepped it up a gear with eve playing the back and Sean controlling the net which lead to a break which they maintained to win the set 6-4. A change of tactics was in order for Deirdre and James and in the second and they stormed to a 3-0 lead never looking back to take the set emphatically 6-1. Early in the 3rd set both teams held serve and were playing well. At 2-1 up eve and Sean broke James’ serve for the first time which set them up for the double break to go 5-2 up. Drama In the 8th game as eve double faulted on match point to give her opponents a sniff of a chance at 5-3 but they say pressure is for tyres and this was proven by the team of the hard hitting eve Campbell and the gazelle like movement around the net of Sean Pearse who held their nerve to take the 3rd set 6-3. The match was played in great spirits and both teams played their part in one of the matches of finals day. 6-4 1-6 6-3
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