Tennis - Melbourne Grammar School

Tennis
1st Tennis
MGS defeated Carey 10-6
With only 3 matches remaining, this week’s match against Carey became a must win in order to stay
undefeated and challenge for the premiership in a fortnight.
The boys arrived rather early to prepare for a big day, and if the warm up was anything to go by, it
promised to be a great day of tennis. We started rather strongly in the first rubber of doubles, winning 3 out
of 4 matches with Jack Connock and Alex Savage just going down in a tiebreaker, 9-8. A great display of
doubles from Lawrence Sciglitano and Fergus Kearney in their first rubber saw them conquer their
opponents at 9-4.
The second rubber of doubles unfortunately brought about two defeats with Luka Thorpe and Campbell
Salmon losing their match at 9-5 and Fergus Kearney and Lawrence Sciglitano just going down in an epic
tiebreaker, 9-8.
On the other hand, Max Pearson and Matteo Savio won their second match in a tiebreaker, 9-8, and
offered plenty of entertainment in the process. The final match of the doubles was played in great form with
Jack and Alex winning in convincing fashion, 9-4.
Going into the singles, MGS were 5 sets to 3 ahead of Carey, which made the singles rubbers especially
important. Things didn’t start off well with Luka, Fergus and Alex bowing out to their respected opponents,
but Max, Matteo, Lawrence, Jack and Campbell outclassed their opponents with prodigious performances.
This of course gave us the win we needed at 10 sets to 6 sets.
After the long weekend, the Firsts will play Haileybury College, the other undefeated team in the
competition, for the APS Tennis Championship.
Max Pearson 12 Rn (Captain)
2nd VIII Tennis (Blue)
MGS Defeated Haileybury, 8 sets – 4 sets
Following a tough outing last week, the MGS 2nd VIII were back in fine form with players returning from
sickness and injury. Out at Flack Park, though the windy conditions are always a challenge, we kicked off
the day with a clean sweep in the doubles, taking all four sets out convincingly.
Fergus Lappin effortlessly breezed through his singles, without raising a sweat, smashing his
opponent 6-0. Will Horsfall, Jono Cohen and Richard Zhang all seized another win for MGS.
Nick Savage, Harry Gubbins, Will Chen and Eddie Xue fought hard all day, unfortunately coming up
just short this week. Nevertheless it was a very successful day. Congratulations to all the players on the
well-deserved victory and of course a special thanks to Mr Dessants for coaching and for being a legend in
general.
Jono Cohen 12 Rs (Co-captain)
Seconds White
MGS defeated WCS, 9 sets – 3 sets
Last Saturday the MGS 2nds White tennis team had a successful win after coming from a bye the
previous week. The team played well in the doubles, comfortably winning three of four matches, of
which James Russel and Alex Rayne had a good match but unfortunately lost in a tiebreak. Sam Beer
and Marc Kavakos played especially well, winning their match 6-1.
Strong wins in the singles came through from Marc Kavakos winning 6-0, and Keizo Hamaguchi with a
win of 6-2. Having lost Shiraz Esufali due to an injury this week, Nipun Kumaragama stepped up and
proved himself worthy, knocking over his opponent 6-0 in about 20 minutes. The no.1 and 2 seeds, Alex
Rayne and James Russel, both did extremely well to emerge victorious in their hard fought tiebreakers.
Although they fought hard, Spencer Fitzroy and James Allen both lost their singles matches.
Thank you to all the parents and Dr McCutcheon for providing their support on the day. A good victory
will hopefully boost the boys’ confidence for our next game in two weeks time.
James Allen (11 By)
Captain
3rd VIII Tennis
MGS wins convincingly against Caulfield Grammar 11 sets – 1
The Thirds tennis team began the competition against Caulfield Grammar (Caulfield Campus) at the
very social time of 10:15 on Saturday. With no delay, the team smashed out the doubles round in typical
Third’s style and finesse, winning all matches either 6-1 or 6-0. Although the First pair was forced to play
singles first up due to a late arrival of a Caulfield player, the rhythm was not interrupted. It is important
to recognise the efforts of Adrian Feng and Jasper Fisher, who, with some great rallies, dominated their
competitors without conceding a single game.
Despite the overhanging threat of a thunderstorm the singles matches began, with MGS continuing in
the same confident vein. Tom Badge, Alex Robinson, Oliver Cooney and Haydn Berry all played with
determination and skill, leaving the opposing players a challenge to win a game. Caulfield, seemingly
warming up, put up a slightly sterner opposition this round, but ultimately failed to take any lead.
The day ended on a high note with 67 games to 23, the Thirds’ first victory this season and hopefully
foreshadowing many victories to come.
Lachlan Jobling (12 Ms)
Captain
4ths Tennis
MGS Defeated St Kevin’s 10 Sets – 2 Sets
The 4ths tennis team travelled over to Sacre Coeur in the early hours of the morning and began playing as
the sun still rose at 8am. However the cold winds and showers that plagued us all morning were not
enough to detour us from our goals of glory.
Continuing our winning streak, we dominated St Kevin’s with some fabulous doubles wins. 3 out of 4 wins
started out our morning with special mentions going towards Oscar and George (6, 0) and Tom and Will
(6, 1) who managed to keep destroying their opponents, even though the weather was against us on the
day.
We didn’t let up on our onslaught in singles, with some outstanding plays from Will (6, 3), Hezan (6, 1),
George (6, 0) and Will Coote (6, 2). Our only loss in the singles was Harry, who still gave the opposing
player a run for his money, losing (1, 6).
Match of the day goes to Marshall, who after an intense match managed to just emerge the victor with a
win (7, 5) after tie breaker finished at a 10-8, a well-deserved win.
In the end, the day turned out to be a massive success with everybody playing amazing games and
continuing to show the rest of the schools that we are not to be messed with. A good start to a not so
good day.
Will Carrigan (12 By)
10A Tennis
MGS defeats Xavier in a tight match
The 10A’s rocked up to play Xavier at Xavier College. Although the forecast was set to be a blazing hot
day, it was overcast and whilst warming up for doubles, it started spitting. Luckily for us, it cleared up and
we were able to play.
The number 1 pair for this week with both Alex Savage and Harrison Gorman playing for the firsts were
Sam Cameron and Max Double; unfortunately they were unable to gather the win after some superb
tennis against a strong opponent and lost 4-6. The second pair (David Gatford and Alex Chambers) were
victors, playing decisive tennis, winning 6-0. The third pair, Morgan Galea and Ed McKindlay, played some
fabulous tennis but fell just short, losing 4-6. The fourth pair, consisting of Fraser Smith and Nick
Thompson, both moved up from the B’s on a late notice and also played terrific tennis in a loss.
First up in the singles was Sam Cameron who is in excellent form, comfortably winning 6-3. Number 2
seed, Max Double was also able to snatch a win from a strong opponent at 6-2. Alex Chambers playing
number 3 seed was last to play and needed to win for us to come out on top. He was a clutch performer
and gave us the win at 6-4. David Gatford also played some stunning tennis, winning 6-4 on pure skill.
Morgan Galea gave us a huge boost, getting a very comfortable 6-0 win. Ed McKindlay played some
remarkable tennis but was unable to convert, losing 4-6. This was the same for Fraser Smith who was
unlucky not to get the win, falling just short, 4-6. Nick Thompson, who was able to rock up on such short
notice, was also unable to grab a win, losing 2-6.
Max Double (10 Dn)
9A Tennis
On Saturday the 9A tennis team travelled to Glen Waverly to play Wesley College. The early start had no
effect on the team, with everyone ready to go for the doubles. Jonno and Luca continued their good start
to the season by defeating a solid Wesley first pair in a tiebreak. Stefan and Jack cruised past their
opponents 6-0, as did Max and Pablo who also won 6-0. Our fourth doubles pair, Enoch and Lachie also
combined well to win 6-3. The good start to the day continued when Max, Stefan and Jack Gleeson all
won their singles without dropping a game. Enoch eased past his opponent 6-2, while Jeremy battled
past his opponent 6-5. Jack Fergus fought hard in his singles but was beaten in a tiebreak. The final two
singles matches were Jonno and Luca. Luca was in fine form and easily dispatched his opponent 6-1
while Jonno rallied well against a fine Welsey opponent in an up and down match to win 8-6 in the
tiebreak. Jonno’s win finished off a successful day for the 9As, with all playing well.
After the long weekend we travel to Wheelers Hill to take on Caufield in what should be another good
challenge. MGS 11 sets 71 Games d Wesley 1 set 27 games.
9B Tennis
MGS 12 sets 60 games defeated Wesley 0 sets 11 games
The fierce storm that hit Melbourne late on Saturday evening arrived early at Glen Waverley. All players
were outstanding as they swept through the opposition like a typhoon. The doubles combinations of Tom
Cohen/James Handolias, Christian Gregory/Tristan Meaker, Tim Brend/Oliver Else and Trevor Yao/
Anthony Papadopoulos were ruthless, dropping four games overall.
The cyclonic momentum carried through into the singles rubbers. Tom Cohen, Christian Gregory, Tristan
Meaker, Tim Brend and Anthony Papadopoulos disposed of their opponents to love whilst James
Handolias and Trevor Yao had hard fought victories.
Special mention to Anthony Papadopoulos, who has not lost a single game in his singles thus far!
Christopher Gregory 9 Wy (Captain)
Nick Konstantatos (Coach)