Brisbane tennis export Brandon Daly-Walkin produced a perfect 10 days on the Border.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 24-year-old backed up from his win at Albury’s Margaret Court Cup with a dominant display in the men’s singles at the Victorian Junior Grasscourt Championships at Wodonga Tennis Centre on Saturday.
Incredibly, the unseeded Daly-Walkin didn’t drop a set in his 12 matches across the two events, including Saturday’s semi-final and final.
Daly-Walkin withstood his toughest challenge of the week against Jack Clements in the decider, overcoming the third seed, 7-6, 6-4.
He cruised into the last match of the tournament with a 6-2, 6-0, triumph against Micheal Zhang.
The Margaret Court-Victorian Junior Grasscourt Championships double was also on the cards for Canberra’s Sarina Kang in the women’s singles, but it wasn’t to be.
Kang was defeated 6-4, 6-3 by Leann Serna in a quality contest.
Serna booked her place in the decider with a hard-fought 4-6, 6-1, 10-3 salute against Nicole Mullen.
Kang won a replay of the Margaret Court Cup women’s singles final against Andrea Kristo, 7-6, 6-3.
Clements didn’t leave the tournament empty-handed, claiming the men’s doubles title with Alex Smith, 6-3, 6-3, against Pedro Papangelis and Matthew Scheers.
Number two seeds Jemma Carbis and Ksenija Varesanovic were straight-sets winners against third seeds Megan Markov and Olivia Quigley, 6-4, 7-5, in the final of the women’s doubles.
Meanwhile, a number of Border tennis prospects put in excellent performances on the final day.
Japan’s Ippei Matsushima edged out Albury’s Ryan Tinworth in the under-10 boys singles final, Tinworth and teammate Ash Harrington were also runners-up in the doubles.
Rory Parnell went down 6-2, 6-1, in the semi-finals of the under-14 boys singles consolation to eventual winner Nicholas Bigeni.
Ella Brown and Sienna Jensen made it as far as the semi-finals of the under-14 girls doubles.
Lachlan Graetz lost the final of the under-16 boys singles, 6-3, 6-3, against Zachery Adams.
Players going back-to-back at the Margaret Court Cup and Victorian Junior Grasscourt Championship isn’t uncommon.
In fact, it happened last year when Sydney’s Anne-Marie Medcalf defeated Alana Parnaby in the women’s singles final of both events, while Central Coast’s Troy Lockwood won both men’s singles titles.
Border tennis fans won’t be starved of action for too long, with the Albury grasscourts to host an International Tennis Federation Pro Tour tournament in February.
- Receive our daily newsletter straight to your inbox each morning from The Border Mail. Sign up here