Duncan and Tennis

Behind us are 5 of the 7 grass courts at the club.

Duncan Road Trip  |  Ilya Tihanenoks and Martin Walenczykiewicz were seeded number three and four in the under 18 singles event. I was not concerned about their seedings but I expected some serious performances from them. The third member of the team, Peter Hu is just starting out in his tennis. He had entered in the under 16 and 18 singles events, and also in the under 18 doubles event, where he was partnered up with Nanaimo's Thomas Mitchell. Performance wise, he seemed to have improved in each of his matches, which was what Terry and I wanted to see. In his doubles match, he and Mitchell had a chance to move to the second round but lost 7-5 in the third set tie-breaker. Hu did pick up his game considerably in his consolation round doubles match. They fought hard, only to lose again in three sets. This time it is 4-6, 6-4, 3-6. Overall this trip has been a great experience for him.

Tihanenoks lived up to his seeding number. He made his semi-final appearance on Friday after defeating Jarret Norton 6-1, 6-1 the day before. His semi-final was played indoor at 9:30 pm on Friday night after a lunchtime downpour. Only three indoor courts were available at the Arbutus Ridge Golf and Tennis Centre at Arbutus Ridge, which is about 10 minutes from the lawn tennis club. Playing on the corner court, Tihanenoks had trouble returning his opponent serves from the deuce side as he found himself out of running room in the tennis bubble on the out wide serves. Tihanenoks fought well early on and had his chance in the first set after breaking serve to move up 4-3. That was the only time he was ever in the lead and in the end his opponent had fewer unforced errors. He lost 6-4, 6-1. I know Tihanenoks had been aiming for better result than this. It was a good showing nevertheless.

There is something else about Tihanenoks to watch out for. Earlier in the day, and under the guidance from Terry, all of us hit the driving range at Arbutus once again. He showed much fluidity in his golf swings this time around and effortlessly powered the balls high over the field that consistently landed between the 150 and 200 yards. Tihanenoks is hooked on golf now, but he has to work on his temperament, which had surfaced a few times in his semi-final match. Have to be cooler than a cucumber in golf or it will be disastrous, Terry had explained to him.

Walenczykiewicz had won his first tennis title in July and was confident coming into this tournament. Usually a very consistent player on hard court, he looked rather uncomfortable playing his first ever match on grass. What made it worse for him was his opponent Nate Sauder who looked totally at ease on grass. His Vancouver Lawn and Tennis Club opponent moved so well on grass. Watching that match from the lookout platform, I knew Walenczykiewicz was going to be in a lot of trouble. Sauder's footwork and groundstrokes made the difference in the match as it helped him hit more winners. Walenczykiewicz was never in control of his match at all, losing in a disappointing 6-3, 6-0 score.

On a brighter note, Walenczykiewicz fared better in his under 18 doubles events. He teamed up with Tihanenoks to make the semi-finals. They were both seeded number one. In their morning match which was moved indoor, they had no problem dispatching their quarter-final opponents, Conors Rencher and Riers Zdan 6-1, 6-3. Moving onto their doubles semi-final match, Walenczykiewicz faced Sauder once more. This time revenge was not in the cards. Sauder and partner, Braedon Beaulieu had little trouble defeating our doubles team 6-3, 6-1.

Got a chance to play on grass.

Sheila Biondo is the tournament director.