Last Seasons champions Elmhurst Amphitheatre hosted Buangor and runners up Ararat City headed to Landsborough for the opening round.

Out at Landsborough, the final score was drastically misleading to the brand of tennis that was on display across the day.

Nick Oliver and John Hannett opened the scoring account for Ararat City against Linden Murray and Theo Brown.

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Tahni Skewes and Mel Roberts followed suit against Christiana Henke and Annabelle Price by the same margin.

The Scott Brothers (Karl and Liam) gelled well to defeat Alex Drosg and Tom Bartlett in a tight game and Catherine West and Ella McLoughlin defeated Jess Mackley and Simone Scott in the game of the day on the ladies court.

Half the sets across the day were won by both sides 8-6 or closer, with the closest being 9-8 (11 to 9 in the first to 7 tiebreaker).

The final set of the game was also close and was played by the four youngest players on the day, with Annabelle Price and Theo Browne edging out Ella McLoughlin and Tom Bartlett 8 games to 6 in a wonderful display of tennis!

Over at Elmhurst, the reigning premiers flexed their muscles in the opening chapter of their championship defence.

The Elmhurst Amphitheatre Men proved to good for Hartwich-rich line up of Buangor.

Trevor Field and Darryl Driscoll opened up with a win over brothers Tim and Chris Hartwich, whilst Kim Hartwich and Will Hope managed to sneak their way into a 9-7 win over Sally Roberts and Heather Driscoll.

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Phil Hartwich and Jordy Malone put in a valiant effort, falling just short of Will Edgar and Cam Roberts, while Aimee Harrison and Merryn Boatman got to work, defeating Sophie Dyer and Alex Fraser.

The Buangor ladies held tough to snag two points, however the reigning champs were too strong on the day, taking out the overall victory.

A wonderful weekend of tennis, with the weather thankfully holding out to allow for the first of (hopefully) many 'post-lockdown' rounds.

Round 2 (November 13th) will see the return of the Crowlands side after the opening round bye, as they travel to Buangor to try and kick off their season.

The other match is sure to be fiery as Elmhurst Amphitheatre travel to Ararat to play out the grand final rematch. Landsborough will be enjoying the sunshine with the bye weekend.

All matches will commence at 1pm sharp.

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