TYRENDARRA found themselves in the midst of another close encounter in round two of the Surry and District Tennis Association’s A grade competition on Saturday, as they came away with a nail-biting 3-38 to 3-37 win over Lawn Blue.

The result follows a round one contest in which they were on the wrong end of an almost identical score-line (losing 3-39 to 3-37) against Lawn Purple, with Tyrendarra player Jeremy Prevett saying that the first two weeks of the season suggest the competition will be fierce this year.

“It could be quite an even competition… hopefully we can continue playing at a high standard,” Prevett said.

“This match was played in good spirits, and I expect that we’ll get plenty of good games on tennis going forward.”

Prevett was playing alongside teammate Hannah Jones in the mixed doubles in what was the final set of the match, and he admits that going into it he knew the task at hand.

“I didn’t feel a lot of pressure to be honest, but I had done the maths in my head,” he said.

“I knew we had to win the set by two or three games, and fortunately we were able to do so.

“I’m very happy with my own performance, and more importantly the team’s performance.”

Prevett won all three of the sets he participated in, winning both of the men’s doubles matches 8-4 alongside Marcus McClintock, before claiming the deciding set with Jones 8-5.

Lawn Blue’s women’s pairing of Brooke King and Verity McDonald proved too strong for Tyrendarra’s Robyn Kelly and Jones, claiming both of their sets 8-6.

McDonald also paired with Shawn Dalton to claim their mixed doubles set.

The weather once again threatened to impose itself on the weekend, however the rain stayed away just enough to ensure that play could occur.

Prevett said the suboptimal conditions suited his side well.

“The ball was coming through a bit slower which suited us… particularly myself,” he said.

He added that while there was a high standard of tennis being played, he expected that to only improve as the season wears on.

“There’s not a lot of opportunities to play tennis during the winter… so it can sometimes take a while for people to get going,” he said.

“I think after one or two weeks you’ll see the standard step up another gear.

In the other A grade match, Lawn Purple took care of business against Heywood, as they dropped not a single set to claim a 6-48 to 0-24 win.

Aiden Mibus and Cam McCallum were particularly strong in the men’s doubles, dropping just eight games across the two sets to opponents Austin Sadler and Kane Mueller.

The women were almost as dominant, with Kerri-Ann O’Keefe and Leah Sandeman conceding just 11 games in their two sets against Marnie Mueller and Casey Mellington.

The combination of Mibus and O’Keefe proved to be the most potent of the lot, as the won their set 8-1 against Sadler and Marnie Mueller.