Parnell will have home advantage in the men's and women's Caro Bowl tennis finals in a fortnight after 4-2 victories in the semifinals.
But they were forced to pull out all the stops to defeat their opponents.
After splitting the doubles against Waiata, the Parnell men relied on Andrew Turner, who played one of his best matches of the season at No 2 to defeat Andrew Batie. He was backed up well by brother Nick winning his match.
Ex-Davis Cup player Bruce Derlin proved that even top-rated juniors find his placement of the ball difficult in beating Henry Gers.
With nothing riding on the outcome of the top singles, James Greenhalgh, of Parnell, and Alistair Hunt could have taken the match casually but both went for their shots.
Hunt took the first set after some errors by Greenhalgh and then raced to a big lead in the second set before a minor comeback by Greenhalgh and an eventual score of 7-5, 6-4.
Waiata will now play Mission Bay in the minor final to try to get a second chance at Parnell in the grand final. Mission Bay will not be easy after beating West End 4-2.
The two matches Mission Bay lost were both in three sets as Antony Old beat Simon Rea in a hard-hitting encounter and G. D. Jones upset Damien Mulhane.
Jacob Olsen had a good win for Mission Bay over Justin McKenzie in straight sets.
The Parnell women were in trouble initially after dropping the bottom doubles and a set in the top doubles, but fought back to take their match against Royal Oak 4-2.
The minor final will see Royal Oak play Titirangi, who overcame Remuera on a set countback 8-7 after matches were equal 3-3.
In the Chelsea Cup, Campbells Bay blasted their way into top place for the semifinals with a 5-1 over third-placed Mairangi Bay. Mark Thompson and Danny Willman lost only three games between them in their singles wins and combined for a top doubles win.
Second place went to Northcote who kept Milford out of the semifinals on a set countback 8-6. Belmont took fourth place after a 5-1 win over Birkenhead.
In the women's competition, Northcote finished as the top qualifier, one point ahead of Milford as both teams proved how close they are with a 48-48-game draw.
Tennis: Parnell serve at home for Caro finals
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