Ten-year-old Georgia Atkinson became the youngest player ever to win the Sports Arena and Fairmont Estate Winery Wairarapa regional one tennis closed women's singles championship on Saturday.
Atkinson, who plays out of the Pirinoa club, went through the round-robin format undefeated with the key result coming in what was a virtualfinal against top seed Zoe Schofield (Gladstone).
It was an exciting contest with Atkinson taking the first set 6-4 and looking likely to win in straight sets when she held a 5-3 advantage in the second. However, the gutsy Schofield fought back to even things up and force a tie breaker which she won 7-4.
The third and deciding set was then played under the super tiebreak rules - first to 10points - and for that Atkinson was the more composed, regularly picking up points and winning 10-2. Her court craft truly belied her tender years.
Third place in the women's singles went to Abby Hill (Opaki) while the regional one women's doubles was also a triumph for Atkinson who combined with Duskha Warren to beat Schofield and Zoe Paris 7-2.
The regional one men's singles title went to Jono Hurley (Masterton) for the sixth consecutive year. In the final he actually trailed his opponent, Baden Stevenson of Gladstone, 4-3 in a first set that featured many hard-hitting rallies but he recovered to win 6-4 and then dominated a second set in which he did not drop a game.
In the singles plate final Greg Williams beat Brett Dymond 3-6, 7-5, 11-9 and in the consolation singles final George Passi beat Andy Colvin 6-1, 7-6.
Hurley was also in masterful form in the regional one men's doubles final, he and Ben Campbell beating Stevenson and Chris Schofield 6-3, 6-4. Williams and Passi won the doubles plate.
Defending champion Chris Davidson defeated his Opaki clubmate Simon Everitt 6-1, 6-2 in the regional two men's singles final but the two finalists were beaten when they teamed up in the doubles final, losing to John McNab and Tim Bird 6-4, 6-2. Bird won the singles plate, Noel Fussell the consolation singles and Fussell and Brian Tatton the doubles plate.
