Regular league new ground for local tennis

A new six-event tennis league has been launched in Albany to headline the 2019-20 season and help fill the void of regular competition tennis.

Many of the local clubs have one-off tournaments during the tennis season, but the 2019-20 Albany & Districts Tennis League will be the first of its kind in the region with both singles and doubles on offer.

Most of the club-based tournaments are doubles tennis, but creator of the new league and local coach Vincent Brochard, said it was vital to have competition singles available for locals to play.

Supported by the Lower Great Southern Tennis Association, the new league will begin next month and consist of six separate dates, all played at Lawley Park Tennis Club.

Brochard is confident the league will be well supported by players across the region, with cash prizes at the completion of the six legs.

“Lots of players are going to Perth often to play competitions,” Brochard said.

“So I thought lets have one here, have these courts occupied and get more people playing tennis.

“We are hoping the competition will work and get players from Tenterden, Denmark and Mt Barker joining those from Albany clubs.

“Doubles is more social and less competitive than singles but we need to be attractive for everyone, and bringing a proper singles competition in is essential.

“Everyone will play a minimum amount of matches. The doubles will be A-grade and B-grade and the singles will be all-in.”

The league starts on Sunday, November 3 with the first doubles, followed by November 17 (singles), December 1 (doubles), February 2 (doubles), February 16 (singles) and March 22 (doubles).

All matches will be fast 4 format with a five-point tiebreaker at three-games all, and points will be gained from each match player’s win, with points increasing as players move to main and consolation draws.

Singles events will be round robin, followed by main draw and consolation events.

Ranking points apply for both.

Doubles will be A-grade and B-grade round robin followed by main draw knockout and then a final.

Interestingly, players will need a different doubles partner for each of the different league fixtures.

LGSHA president Les Bairstow welcomed the introduction of the tennis league.

“From an association perspective we are fully supportive of it,” he said. “Vincent had the idea. It’s a great concept and we are thrilled he’s got something off the ground.

“We will be trying to make this an annual thing and get a league like this up every season.

“It’s another good step towards helping get a regional tennis centre, showing that we can get more people playing.”