SIX-TIME winner Jono Hurley will be the man to beat for the regional one men's singles title at the Wairarapa closed tennis championships being played at the Masterton Tennis Centre this weekend.
Heading a bumper field of 14 entrants in the premier event, Hurley has been a class apart in interclub this season and has also shown good form for Maungaraki on the Wellington club scene. The big serving Trinity player has weapons all across the court and should only need to be somewhere near his best to make it title number seven.
The obvious contenders to press Hurley are Matt Spooner (Carterton) and Baden Stevenson (Gladstone). Spooner has five Wairarapa titles to his name and was the last player to defeat Hurley in a closed tournament, albeit some 10 years ago.
Stevenson, on the other hand, has never won this event, but pushed Hurley in a tight final in 2011, the last time both players contested this event. Stevenson has only just returned to tennis so may be short of a gallop but should not be underestimated as he has powerful ground-strokes off both wings.
A clutch of in-form players including Kelby Courtney, Chris Davidson, Alistair McWilliam and Duncan Oakley will all be looking to make their presence felt and book a semifinal berth.