By Georgia! Tennis girl, 10, our champ

Georgia Atkinson could be the best young tennis player to come out of Wairarapa since current professional Marcus Daniell.
A huge wrap by anybody's standards but one freely given by Jono Hurley who, along with Atkinson, were the star acts when the 2010 Wairarapa closed championships were finalised at the Masterton Tennis Centre on Saturday.
At just 10 years of age, the diminutive Atkinson became the youngest ever winner of the women's regional one singles title.
Hurley equalled a record held by the late Guy Spooner, when he won the men's regional one singles crown for the sixth consecutive time.
Hurley, who has played at representative level for Wellington and Wairarapa and now coaches professionally in the Wairarapa region, describes Atkinson as an "awesome talent" capable of matching the deeds of Daniell, winner of the men's doubles title at the last Heineken Open and recently a member of New Zealand's Davis Cup squad.
"Honestly, she has that sort of potential," Hurley enthused. "Technically she is very good and she has plenty of passion and drive. If she keeps on improving she could be anything."
Atkinson herself admits to being surprised by her latest success, which saw her go through the round robin format unbeaten.
The Gladstone School pupil, who will be at Masterton Intermediate next year, went into the tourney thinking some of her older opponents might be a "bit good" for her and battling nerves.
"Yes, I was nervous, especially at the start of each of the games," she said. "But I felt better as they went on, it got easier then."
Atkinson's main challenge came when she met top seed Zoe Schofield and, after taking the first set at 6-4, victory looked hers for the taking when she took a 5-3 advantage in the second. However, Schofield fought back to win that set 7-6, forcing the match into a super tiebreaker, which Atkinson won 10-2.
Her father Luke - a longtime Wairarapa rep who is selecting the province's senior side this season - gets most of the credit for Georgia Atkinson's development as a tennis player but she also enjoys her on court battles with older sister Sade, who has been a regular in Central Districts age group teams over the past couple of seasons.
Sade has the edge at present but Georgia is determined to change that situation in the seasons ahead.
"I'll beat her ... I'd like that," she said.
Representing New Zealand and winning a Grand Slam are rather more lofty ambitions for Georgia Atkinson and she knows there is a long way to go before they can be achieved.
There is work to do, for instance, on her backhand, which she sees as her weakest point, and she has to be able to strike the ball with more power than her current slight frame allows.
"I like volleying but I have to start hitting the ball harder," she said.
Meanwhile, Jono Hurley is hopeful of being fit enough to play some matches for Wairarapa this season despite a decision to take a complete rest from inter-club competition.
The 24-year-old Hurley was "sore as hell" in the back and pelvic regions after beating Baden Stevenson 6-4 6-0 in Saturday's final and intends to have scans to find the cause of problems, which have recurred all too regularly over the past couple of summers.
"I'm not sure what is happening to the body but I thought having a rest from the club stuff might improve things. The way I feel now I don't think that's going to be the case," he said. "Hopefully the scans will do the trick"
Hurley was always expecting his lack of hard match play to make for a slow start in his clash with arch rival Stevenson, and that was the case, but he was "pretty happy "with his form once he settled into his rhythm. "It wasn't perfect but it was okay, at least we got there in the end."
Looking ahead, Hurley is keen to eclipse Guy Spooner by winning a seventh straight singles title next year, although he admits there is always a chance he will be overseas following his other sporting love, rugby.