Players are on the money

By Jarrod Potter
SAM Groth and Eliza Long were crowned champions of the Waverley Tennis Australian Money Tournament which was held over Melbourne Cup weekend.
With more than 140 athletes participating in the event, with the finals held at the Doveton Tennis Club, the weather played havoc with some of the earlier matches as it rained out parts of Friday and Saturday.
Groth won his final against Ryan Thomas 6-3, 6-1, with Sam’s powerful serve, which has been clocked at 246 kilometres per hour, proving too hard for Thomas to stop.
Long, who comes from the small town of Knowsley just outside of Bendigo, won the women’s final in a three-set match against Annabelle Andrionopoulous 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, fighting back from a set down to capture the title.
Groth thought he played his best tennis when it mattered most, getting his service game going which left Thomas unable to fight back.
“In these sorts of tournaments you get a mix of young guys and guys who are still playing, the first couple of matches I played a couple of good players,” Groth said.
“But the final was my best match for sure.
“Thommo was my hardest opponent, but I stepped up to the plate when I needed to and played my best.
“I actually served really well, probably my best match of serving for the tournament in the final that then puts a lot of pressure on his serve and takes a lot of pressure off me.
“It was the most focused I’ve been,” he said.
Tournament director Lyn Gillen said the standard of tennis was great on account of the even standard of the participants.
“The evenness of the competition was a great highlight, so that was really good to see,” Gillen said.
“There wasn’t any real standout player – everyone was very evenly matched in standard so that meant that the matches lasted longer.
“We incorporated the junior tournament with about 150 kids at three different venues, and the eight and 10-year-olds came to play in their finals on Tuesday at Doveton and the others played at Knox.”
Gillen said the event was a great effort from all the volunteers and helpers, which showed with the high standard of tennis.
“Apart from the weather, when we got washed out for parts of three days, everybody was very good.
“We communicated with everyone well over the internet as to any delays with rain and we had a very late night on Saturday, when we finished at about quarter past 11.
“Sports trainer Sue Simmonds managed to keep everyone on court, patching them up along the way.
“There were a lot of people locally who came to watch, parents and grandparents and a lot of spectators and it was good to see the local kids doing well in the tournament as well.”