Tennis

First VIII Tennis

The First VIII Tennis team had a successful season, winning the Premiership for the second consecutive year. The squad welcomed Joey Govenlock and, later in the season, Mattias Ho as regular players with the remainder of the squad being carried over from last season. Andrew Lee was named Captain, a role he fulfilled with measured doses of flair, performance, showmanship, and commitment.

All the members in the squad are to be commended for their commitment to training, their support for each other, and their respect for the game – all of which contributed to their outstanding performances this season. A goal for this year was to further develop the doubles skills and discipline of the players, and they responded terrifically, establishing dominance over the other teams in this aspect of their matches. A significant improvement this year was the team’s performance under pressure. A very impressive record in tie-breaks highlighted the focus the players were able to apply to their matches – they won 9 out of 10 tie-breaks. With strong wins over the best teams, Ivanhoe and PEGS, in the regular season, Camberwell Grammar entered the final as favourites, having been undefeated since the start of 2021. The start of the final was very close and with a 2-2 score line in the initial doubles matches, the team was under pressure. However, the depth of the team came to the fore, and Camberwell Grammar dominated the remaining matches to convincingly win the 2022 Premiership.

Camberwell Grammar’s best two players’, Matthieu Gibert and Lachlan O’Neill, performances over the whole season were recognised and rewarded with selection in the AGSV Representative Team, which successfully defeated the APS in the summer season finale. The First VIII Tennis home courts have transitioned from Deepdene to Leason Street successfully with the new facility widely acclaimed by visiting teams as a premier venue. Parent, and Friends of Tennis, support has been great throughout the season, and the services of Mr Peter Owen as Head of Tennis have, as always, been exemplary.

Mr Manfred Pietralla

Teacher in Charge

Second Tennis

The Second Tennis team continued their streak of domination in the 2022 season. Led by the fearless Miss Crockett, the Second team remained undefeated for the entire season. This is a testament to all the hard work put into training each Thursday morning, battling through the often-rainy weather, and putting in their all each week. The new additions of Year 11s in the team of Freddie Askew and Jacob Clark quickly made their mark on the team and earned their place with blood sweat and tears, becoming quite the dynamic duo as a doubles pair.

The Year 12s also returned to their last season ready to go out with a bang, with great improvement from Hugo Thornton, Ethan Aw, and Scott Zheng who continued to show their improvement season after season. Regardless of Daniel Meagher’s often laid-back approach to the game and questionable under-arm serves, he made his singles matches look like a walk in the park and obliterated his opponents. Scott Zheng’s consistent all-round game continued to shine throughout the season, winning all his singles matches by his powerful serve and 1-2 punch to finish his points off with ease. Hugo Thornton’s serve became quite the weapon in his 2022 season, and he arguably hit the most aces (but also most double faults) throughout the season.

Alec McDougall’s light touch while volleying and an improvement to his serve speed saw him succeed most weekends. The everso-reliable Will Govenlock continued to hold the team together with his consistent playing style, athleticism, and hustling to every ball, which infuriated the opponents and resulted in them making countless errors. Ethan Aw’s game improved dramatically over the summer break and allowed him to use his consistent ground strokes to tire out his opponents and put away point after point with ease. Marcus Peeters-Williams’ left-handed magic was again on full display throughout the season, and he used his height to his advantage to stomp over his opponents at the net and put away easy volleys and smashes.

Finally, the late addition of Kevin Wang to the team was greatly welcomed, his unique slices and fine touch of the ball in close quarters allowed him to finesse his opponents as if he was putting on a masterclass. In summary, thanks to all the Second Tennis lads for another successful season. Thanks to all the Year 12s who have played Tennis their entire school career and who put in hundreds of hours of work over the years. We cannot wait to see what the upcoming Year 11s have to continue this streak of domination. And thanks to our coach and manager Miss Crockett, whose vast collection of Ash Barty shoes gave the players the inspiration they needed each week.

Alec McDougall

Captain

Third Tennis

The Third Blue Tennis team had a most enjoyable and successful season. The players enjoyed themselves tremendously on the Jack Tobias Oval courts on the splendid summer mornings and refined their Tennis skills considerably throughout the season. Some of the rounds provided very close competition, with players having to demonstrate impressive commitment and tenacity to achieve such great wins. It was most heartening that they remained keen and competitive until the end of all their games. Throughout the season, team members always conducted themselves impeccably and displayed admirable fellowship in their interactions. Congratulations to Hayden Wong on obtaining the Most Valued Player Award and to Andrew Hare on receiving the Coach’s Award. Well done to all members of the team for their generosity of spirit and superb sportsmanship during what was a very positive season.

For the Third Gold team, despite interruptions to training for various legitimate reasons, the team managed to gel and come together and support each other in the most commendable of ways, staying back till the last ball was served over the net. This is the kind of sportsmanship and comradery that any coach would praise and be proud to be a part of.

Daniel Stephen was consistently good and so too were Lachlan McFarland and James Ciro. The team in general was keen to take advice and listened in on how to change their games when the geometry of the court did not quite square with how they imagined it to be. Thanks to all the students for their efforts and encouragement: their work and dedication saw the team go through undefeated. You cannot ask for a better effort than that.

Fourth Tennis

The Fourth Tennis teams had a truncated season due to the lockdowns of 2021 but returned with a notable level of enthusiasm to start the year in 2022. There were also a slightly reduced number of schools taking part in the competition, but the players enjoyed the prospect of hosting teams for matches and travelling to opposition courts after the prolonged absence of sport. Several highly competitive fixtures were played with tight score totals recorded with many notable individual performances by team members.

The Gold team had a highly successful season in the measure of wins recorded and they achieved comprehensive victories against Mentone and Yarra Valley.

Richard Liu and James Alexandrakis made a formidable doubles pairing, serving with conviction to overpower their opponents.

The Gold team faced off with Mentone in the second last round of the season. A hard-fought win by Gabriel Guorgi and Joshua Hu drove Camberwell into the singles matches level on sets with their Mentone counterparts. Gabriel delivered an impressive 6-3 victory in his singles match, while Joshua demonstrated composure, winning in the tie-break after being down 3-5 games. A superb effort by Isaac Tan delivered Camberwell Grammar the victory, continuing their undefeated run.

The Mitre and Blue teams may not have notched up the same number of team wins over the season, however, in the individual sets, games, and points played, there were many wins in terms of individual commitment and collective team spirit. This was exemplified by the Mitre team’s match against Yarra Valley, finishing equal on sets won only to lose by one game. Robert Johnston’s marathon singles match stood out, going to a tie-break, and grabbing the match of the day.

Mr Brian McManus

Teacher in Charge

Year 10 Tennis

It was a stellar season for the Year 10 Tennis teams. The 10B team was strengthened in all positions, with strong singles competitors in Nick Dillon, Matthew Tong and Michael Bao, along with fearful double combinations including ‘The Ethans’ in Ethan Huang and Ethan Mak, and the entertaining (but somewhat unreliable) Raphael Champion and Hamish Westcott duo. Tony Zhang, the marathon man, demonstrated a determination to win, despite being 4-0 down in the final set of the season at a cold, miserable PEGS away venue, recovering to seal the set in a tiebreaker, while Justin Song looked to play almost effortlessly in some singles sets, dominating his opposition. The solid connection between the group, led by a strong unofficial leader in Ethan Huang, allowed for great success throughout the season.

The 10C team was excellent throughout. The consistent and competitive nature of the team made it hard to order the team each week as everyone performed fantastically, further evident through the numerous challengers within the team. Despite this, there was a keen sense of team spirit, highlighted by their dominance in doubles. With close games interspersed throughout the season, it was amazing to witness the grit and determination within this group, which ultimately saw them pulling through with tightly fought victories in all the rounds and finishing at the top of the standings, undefeated.

Congratulations to all members of this memorable team, and especially to the Most Valued Player Matthew Lau who consistently performed, often without dropping a single game, and Sam Yang for his persistent attitude throughout both games and training. Other notable moments within a great season included outstanding performances from Lucas Rodriguez and Raye Hsieh, team conversations with Allan Huang and snacks with Benjamin Pai.

Mr Andrew Kingham

Teacher in Charge

Year 9 Tennis

Not even Covid-19 or bad weather could stop a dominant performance from the 9A Tennis team, who managed to go undefeated the whole season. The team was on form from Round 1, with terrific hitting from Timothy Lee and Kurt Zvirbulis. The second round was no different, with impressive net play from Lachlan Cross. The team went on to have three straight wins to finish the season strong on the back of some great hitting from Thomas Alfieri and Owen Wu.

The 9B Tennis team played an excellent season full of close games, marvellous sportsmanship, and overall comradeship with one another. The fellowship of the students was highly apparent through their bright demeanour and attitude despite early games, hot training sessions, and unfavourable match outcomes. This season, the team showcased great skill, competitiveness, and a significant improvement from where they started. A special thank you to Isaac for the excellent training sessions and to Miss George for always being there to support us.

The 9C Blue Tennis team had an awesome season and they all showed excellent sportsmanship and were always willing to give it a go, even if that meant playing more games than they originally wanted to. The team started the season with a loss against Ivanhoe but quickly rallied together as a team to continue with the season, winning three and losing two of their overall games. A special mention to Ethan Yeung, Ashwin Lagana, and Ethan Tan for outstanding performance this season.

The 9C Gold had an overall solid season of Tennis. The team, which suffered through multiple disturbances, such as long bus rides, players moving around other teams, and the fight to get out of bed early won all but one game. With the order being moved weekly and usually playing schools with better sport programs the players fought hard and came up with results that made those tough mornings enjoyable.

Although having a very interrupted season with washouts and forfeits, the 9C Gold Tennis team persisted against all opponents. Wilson Zhou showed great strength as he smashed the balls passed his competitors, too fast for them to return. Toby Sharrock’s positive teamwork led to some great wins against other AGSV teams. All in all, the 9C Gold team demonstrated the attributes of a classy Camberwell Grammar team with Integrity and Respect.

Year 8 Tennis

A super competitive effort from the 8A team this year. The players displayed sportsmanship each week no matter the circumstances. Ashanth Prabaharan and Nathan Chan solidified the top two seeds each week, and the rest of the team was always willing to rotate seedings to make sure everyone had a fair go.

The epitome of fun is how the 8B Tennis team would be described this year. Always playing with maximum effort and encouraging each other no matter the score. The matches were always competitive, and the strength of the team was tested each week, even by our 8C teams. The doubles pairing of Maximilian Coia and Maxwell Korganow (Max squared) always played well as the number 1 seeded team, and the doubles pairing of Tom Green and Dean Tsigounis (Team Green Bean) always provided entertainment to anyone that had the privilege to see them play. The team was always friendly with all. Including opponents and other Camberwell Grammar teams. It was a real pleasure to get to know the teams this year.

With the interruptions of lockdowns now behind them, the students in the 8C Gold and Blue teams keenly and resolutely commenced their playing of tennis for the School in Term 1. Over the course of this season, they paired up collaboratively in doubles matches, then proceeded with singles matches thereafter. They increasingly displayed their passion and talent for the game and certainly managed to secure a few wins as the season ended. All the players should be commended for the positive and supportive attitude with which they played the game and, moreover, represented Camberwell Grammar.

Mr Peter Zagarn and Mr Samuel Gough Teachers in Charge

Year 7 Tennis

The season began with the students travelling to the Camberwell Grammar Tennis courts at Leason Street, as we quickly sorted the students into teams before the first Saturday matches. One of the benefits of this was that all students were able to get to know each other.

For the students who had already played tennis before, the season provided an opportunity to further develop their skills. In particular, becoming more familiar with how to play doubles in different pairings was a key aspect of training. Furthermore, gaining a greater understanding of where to position oneself when both serving and receiving serves was another area where students developed their knowledge.

Some students had not previously taken to a Tennis court, and this was their first introduction to playing the game. They benefited from training sessions that focused on how to serve, to ensure play could begin, as well as the intricacies of how to move about the court and keep score accurately.

This year, Trinity had many teams entered in the Year 7 competition, so the students often found themselves travelling to Bulleen to face some fierce competition. A few games were held on Friday afternoons and it was encouraging to see how students conducted themselves after a long week of adjusting to Year 7 and also having their sporting commitments at this time of the week.

Gino Yao, Jayan Rajakumar, and Alexander Kyriakou received Most Valuable Player Awards for their respective teams, reflecting their strong on-court performances. Shawrya Singh, Maxwell Soo, and Lachlan Kelly received their team’s Coach’s Award, recognising their enthusiasm and commitment to playing.

Congratulations to all students on their first season of Camberwell Grammar Tennis. Hopefully, this season is just the start of many more Saturday mornings of playing Tennis.