The women's team - Pang Suwanaposee, Zanna Douglas, Weiwei Verran and Aliya Edwards - played at St Peter's Tennis Club in Hamilton and won by two sets on the countback, after both teams won three matches apiece.
The women's match-up was a thriller and came right down to the wire. Rotorua's number one seed Suwanaposee had a tight singles clash with St Peter's number one Lucy Barlow but lost 6/1, 3/6, 5/7.
That made way for Rotorua's Verran and Edwards to rescue the match-up, and they performed well in the singles and doubles to take home the overall victory.
Tamai said it was a great way to start the season.
"We are really happy, it was an excellent start," he said. "Having to travel that far we were pretty amped up to lay down a win."
He said they had to adjust to playing on the astroturf in Thames after training on a rebound surface. He said the women's team had also done well and it could be a good season for Rotorua tennis.
However, he said it was a long season ahead and they were not getting ahead of themselves.
The premier season runs until early next year with games being played on a fortnightly basis. It is the first year the Waikato-Bays club competition has been held in this format.
The Rotorua teams are made up of a mix of Rotorua Tennis Club and Lynmore Tennis Club players.
The Rotorua men's team will play against Tauranga Lawn Tennis Club away in two weeks time while the women's team have a bye in the next round.
Results
Waikato-Bays premier interclub competition on Saturday (round one):
Men's competition: Rotorua 6 Thames 0, St Peter's 6 Cambridge 0, Hamilton 4 Gate Pa 2, Lugton Park 4 Tauranga 2, Otumoetai v Whakatane - score not submitted.
Women's competition: Rotorua 3 (8 sets) St Peter's 3 (6 sets), Tauranga 5 Hamilton 1, Cambridge v Mount Maunganui/Otumoetai - score not submitted, Gate Pa bye.
