Tennis girl, 10, closes on crown

A 10-year-old schoolgirl could win the regional one women's singles title at the Wairarapa closed tennis championships to be finalised at the Masterton Tennis Centre tomorrow.
Georgia Atkinson, of the Pirinoa club, has won both her round robin matches to date and if she can beat Charlotte Mossman (Opaki) and Zoe Schofield (Gladstone) in her last two games she will have the title in the bag.
Neither Mossman - a granddaughter of Sir Brian Lochore, no mean tennis player himself - nor Schofield are in the easy beat category, with Schofield actually being awarded the top seeding, but Atkinson is such a precocious talent that overall victory looks well within her capabilities.
The daughter of long-time Wairarapa representative, and now senior selector Luke Atkinson, already has a good range of shots and the tactical nous to know when to play them. Schofield, too, however, has diversity in her game from a tactical viewpoint and, while she is still a youngster herself, she does have greater experience than Atkinson.
The regional one men's singles final sees two of the best Wairarapa players in recent years, Jono Hurley (Masterton) and Baden Stevenson (Gladstone) do battle.
The regional two men's singles will start at the semifinal stage with top seed Chris Davidson (Opaki) up against fourth seed Colin Gillot (Masterton) and second seed Simon Everitt playing his third-seeded Opaki clubmate John McNab.