Darran Wrighton reports that “planes, trains and all other forms of transport were going to be the theme for this years tour to Albury.
With players converging from every corner of the Pacific the logistics of getting people to and from the airport to where they needed to be then throw in arrivals on New Years Eve and a national public holiday on the 1st January and you had a rather complicated start to what turned out to be an amazing tour from a cultural exchange but more importantly a player development viewpoint.
Most of our group of 12 players had never seen a grass court never mind play on one but that has always been part of the experience of this tour.
After arriving into Melbourne late at night we all had to take an early, four-hour bus ride up to meet our hosts at the first tournament – The Margaret Court Cup on New Years Day. We managed to get an afternoon of training in so that we were prepared for the inaugural Margaret Court Teams event.
We entered two Pacific Teams with a couple of local players in the younger team but both teams managed to make it to the Semi-finals. Unfortunately the fast paced tiebreaks in the final rounds were too much for our players but a great effort all round to get to the Semi’s.
The Margaret Court Cup started on the 3rd and we were to witness great weather as well as some outstanding results from our Pacific Juniors who were starting to understand that there was no such thing as an easy round.
A combination of the hot weather, an unfamiliar surface and the fighting spirit of and tenacity of the Australian players made some of these matches a tough challenge.
Our younger stars were able to get their hands on some silverware by winning some events and the eventual player of the tour “Ayana Rengil” was to reach her first final. Ayana had been on the earlier GSDF tour to Melbourne and had remained in Australia until the start of the Albury tour. It was evident she had taken on board some of the advice from the last trip and had improved her serve with the help of her host the Margaret Court Tennis Academy Director Phil Shanahan. (Who is also Margaret Courts nephew!)
We had to sadly leave Albury to move all of ten minutes up the road to Wodonga, many of our players were to leave their host families to meet new ones, but the friendships continue to flourish and that for is the biggest win from this trip.
In Wondonga the players were to compete in the Victoria Grass Court Championships and it was interesting to see them use their new found knowledge and tactical awareness with more proficiency in this event.
Whilst in the region we were invited to join the Albury Tennis Association in its celebration of 100 years of tennis. Some of the players had the novelty of playing some tennis with original wooden rackets and white balls. All the players definitely voiced their approval of their parent’s investment in modern frames.
The week flew by with more tough fought matches in hot conditions and again Pacific Players prevailed reaching and winning some events. Both the tournaments were Tennis Australia Junior Tour Gold events which not only meant that the general level of players were higher but points scored would assist some Pacific Players to be ranked within the top 100 players in Australia for their age groups. After two weeks of making new friends and showing Australian players and their coaches our Pacific determination and sense of fair play we were treated to two days at the Australian Open by Tennis Australia with the players even getting to watch Centre Court action from the presidents box.
Roll of Honour
Gillian Osmont (Tahiti) Winner of 10 and under singles and doubles at both Margaret Court Cup and Victorian Championships.
Carol Lee (Saipan) Winner of 12 and under singles Margaret Court Cup and singles and doubles at Victorian Grass Court Championships.
Naia Guitton (Tahiti) ¼ final main draw consolation in 12 and under singles Margaret Court Cup and placed 5th overall at Victorian Grass Court Championships.
Michael Ren (Saipan) ¼ final main draw consolation in 12 and under singles Victorian Grass Court Championships
Christopher Shan (Tahiti) Semi final main draw consolation in 14 and under singles Victorian Grass Court Championships
Ayana Rengil (Palau) Final main draw singles and ¼ finals 14 and under doubles
Margaret Court Cup, Winner of main draw singles and semi final doubles Victorian Grass Court Championships.
Chris Cajigan (Guam) ¼ final main draw consolation 16 and under singles Margaret Court Cup, Finalist main draw consolation singles Victorian Grass Court Championships.
Manoa Desvignes (Tahiti) Semi final main draw consolation in 16 and under Margaret Court Cup, ¼ final main draw consolation singles Victorian Grass Court Championships.
Heve Kelley (Tahiti) Finalist main draw consolation singles 16 and under Margaret Court Cup, 3rd Overall singles and finalist doubles Victorian Grass Court Championships.
These are encouraging results from players unfamiliar to playing on grass and gives them a good start for improving their Australian Rankings, in particular these results combined with her results from the earlier GSDF tour in Melbourne pushed Carol Lee into the top 50 for her age group in Australia.”