The Royal Melbourne Tennis Club
134 Years
10 May 2017
Weekly News
Head Professional: Frank Filippelli (pros@rmtc.com.au)
Editor: Kate Leeming
- 17 6pm: AGM and Trophy Presentation President
- 21 Junior clinic Pros
- 26 Empire Day Breakfast Tournament Jonathan Sear
- 27 Quarterly Medal #2 Pros
- 2 6pm: First Friday of the Month Drinks
- 7 Introduction Night President
- 10-12 Alan Hamer Cup Doubles Championship Pros
- 17-18 Judith Clarke Cup (in Hobart) J Tan
- 17-18 Australian Amateur Women’s Singles and Doubles (in Hobart) J Tan
- 17-18 MOFO Tournament (in Hobart)
UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS
The next junior clinics of the year are coming up soon. Bring your, or anyone else’s,
young people and let us introduce them to our game and unearth their hidden potential.
Please ring the pro shop to let us know how many to expect.
Quarterly Medal #2 – Sat 27 May
The second quarterly medal of the year is coming up on 27 May. Get in early to book your spot.
We will have morning and afternoon sessions in the usual format.
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The tennis sub-committee’s most excellent initiative of boosting the Exhibition Street Cup this year by providing upgraded prizes sadly lured only 11 entries. Included in these prizes were generously sponsored vouchers for dinner at The Piano, a Thai restaurant and bar nearby in Bridge Road where the very obliging staff always provide a warm welcome to RMTC members.
The event opened with a fantastic result: Annie Dempster (handicap 86.6) defeated Frank Filippelli (1) by the narrowest of margins. Having played one final backhand beyond the reach of the helpless head professional to win the match, Annie collapsed to her knees in triumphant disbelief, Nadal at Roland Garros style. I wish that I could still move around the court at the speed at which Frank fled the scene and disappeared upstairs to enjoy the remainder of his week-end off. Mrs Dempster then advanced to the semi-final by reasserting domestic dominance over her husband Geoff.
In the second quarter tennis sub-committee chairman Vince Scopelliti (35.8) benefited from Owen Guest’s Sunday unavailability to advance.
Below, the genuinely progressive Jackson Brand (38.2) outwitted the supposedly progressive Henry Batstone (16.1) and followed up with an equally meritorious win over president Kininmonth (30.6).
The fourth quarter-final match exposed the primary flaw in the RTO handicapping system: compression. Julian Snow (+0.3) and Paul Rosedale (9.8) are regular entrants in events of this nature, each with an established level of play, and have had a number of hard fought encounters. Now, though, with Paul’s handicap, though perhaps not quite yet his level, having reached single figures Julian had to concede only ‘receive 15, owe 15’. As every gambler knows, you can’t eat value but Julian nonetheless gobbled up this leniency with relish and came through 9-4.
On Sunday morning Vince showed great control off the maximum handicap difference to end Annie’s giant killing run. At the same time Jackson played really well to jump out to a 5-3 lead over Julian but this effort seemed to tire him, thereafter his technique in the backhand corner collapsed somewhat and Julian won 6 of the last 7 games.
The final took a predictable path: Julian, restricted to chase 3 & 4 or better, cutting the ball down into Vince’s backhand corner and Vince doing what he could to return sufficient balls to force a few errors. The former strategy prevailed 9-2.
The pros did well. Jonathan not only played doubles on the Sunday with Allan Willingham but also marshalled all the players with that mix of charm and persuasion that has served him so well for so long. Kate, refreshed and revitalised from her recent time away in Canada, marked flawlessly as ever.
I left the club not only with some elegant glassware, but also with a bottle of Louis Roederer which lasted no further than Lizzie Brown’s house and the aforementioned meal voucher at The Piano which will likely last only until Henry gets his hands on it.
Julian Snow
EXHIBITION STREET CUP DOUBLES
Congratulations to Steve Wood and Kathryn Arndt who won the Exhibition Street Cup Doubles by beating the spirited pairing of Dafydd Camp and Ann-Maree Lester. The handicap system once again worked well in the group stages with several pairs ending up on two wins and two losses. However, the consistency of Wood and the attacking flair of Arndt combined to great effect and they used their handicap wisely to take the prestigious trophy and vouchers generously donated by The Piano Restaurant.
Jonathan Howell
WARM UP FOR WINTER
The new RMTC Boast Zip Pullover, as modeled by our junior pro, has just arrived in the pro shop.
Check in at the pro shop to try one on.
There are plenty of courts available this weekend so its a great opportunity to improve your game.
Please book or give the pros a call to arrange.
