Opaki need form boost to make final

Alistair McWilliam, key player for Gladstone. PHOTO/FILE

ALL EYES will be on the Masterton Tennis Centre this evening where title contenders Gladstone and Opaki will face off in the final qualifier for Wairarapa Tennis' regional one interclub competition.

At stake will be a date with the powerhouse Carterton side in the championship decider next weekend, but for now the full focus of these two teams will be on producing their best tennis for tonight's fixture.

This will be the third time these two sides have locked horns this season and the previous two meetings have not ended well for Opaki.

On both occasions Gladstone coasted to 5-1 victories, including a fixture played only two weeks ago, and all things being even they will be favoured to extend their dominance over Opaki in this encounter too.

For Opaki to reverse that trend they will need to turn the form book upside down and show the kind of resolve that saw them win a virtual quarter-final against Martinborough last weekend.

The expected individual match-ups certainly point towards this being a tight finish.

In the No1 men's singles Kelby Courtney has had the wood on Opaki's Chris Davidson, however, if Davidson can get his booming first serve to fire up and reduce his unforced error count, there's no reason why he couldn't claim a major scalp here.

The same applies to Opaki No 2 Stuart Wyeth. He was soundly beaten by Gladstone's Alistair McWilliam in their recent contest, though his head-to-head record with McWilliam is relatively good and for Opaki to upset the applecart, Wyeth just has to win this one.

In the bottom men's encounter, Gladstone's Lochie McNab will be up against it no matter who Opaki plays -- either his father Jon McNab or Duncan Oakley -- but the youngster has the raw talent to spring a surprise.

In the women's match, Opaki's Finola O'Boyle will front up against either Petra Hall or Ana Gudsell and both scenarios favour Gladstone, although O'Boyle did take a set off Gudsell in their earlier encounter.

The doubles and mixed doubles rubbers look fairly even on paper, though Opaki will surely be trying to find a combination to deal with Courtney and McWilliam, as a win in the men's doubles could be the catalyst for a famous Opaki victory.

All things considered, this fixture promises to be somewhat closer than the previous two and while Gladstone may start a little slow, due to their bye last weekend, they should just squeak past Opaki.

In the other regional one playoff match scheduled for minor placings, Martinborough have defaulted to Masterton, therefore bringing down the curtain on their season.

The regional two championship is nearing its finale and the two leading teams will square off tomorrow.

Masterton 1 already have one hand on the trophy and the only team that could possibly overhaul them, Opaki 2, will need to produce a lopsided upset against them to keep their slim chances alive.

Opaki 1 have moved into third and they should consolidate that position against Masterton 2, while Carterton/Gladstone are tipped to beat Rathkeale and Greytown should overcome Martinborough.