Harry Weeds was too strong for the competition as his grass-court skills came to the fore at the North Otago Open at the weekend.
In the men’s singles final, Weeds came across Ryan Eggers, who was looking to defend his title.
Weeds started stronger as he broke Eggers early and stayed solid to win the first set 6-3.
The second set started like the first as Weeds got an early break to lead 3-1.
Eggers hit some big passing shots to break back, but Weeds hung on with his reliable serve and calculated net play to win 6-3, 6-4.
In the semifinals, Weeds beat Paddy Ou 6-3, 6-2 and Eggers beat Tim Preston 7-6(10), 6-0.
The latter match-up featured some dives from both players as Eggers had to stave off set points before running away with the match.
In the women’s singles, Mackenzie Phillips (Oamaru) continued her impressive form as she beat Belinda Hirst 6-3, 6-4 in the final.
Hirst used all her court craft to keep it close, but Phillips’ match fitness kept her ahead.
The win meant Phillips continued her unbeaten season as she backed up her wins in the Southern quad and the Wanaka Open.
With the win in North Otago, her winning streak extended to 19 matches.
Phillips and Hirst then combined in the women’s doubles, which was going to be a tough ask for any opponents.
In a round-robin format, they dropped only three games in total on their way to the title.
The men’s doubles ended in a final between Eggers/Gavin Mockford and Jaden Grinter/Connor Morrison that came down to the wire.
Grinter/Morrison came out strongly as they broke twice to win the first set 6-3.
Needing a response, Eggers/Mockford played a great return game to break Grinter in the first game of the second.
With the match taking a turn, Eggers/Mockford played clinical doubles and ran away with the second set 6-0.
The deciding match super-tiebreak included many swings of momentum.
It looked like Grinter/Morrison had the win sealed as they got up 8-4. However, some solid volleying led to the match being tied at 8-8.
From there, both teams traded championship points as the pressure started to ramp up.
With very little separating the two pairs, the composure at net from Eggers/Mockford eventually helped them win the tiebreak and the match 3-6, 6-0, 15-13.
— Paddy Ou
