Blue skies and low humidity made for perfect tennis weather and an exciting finish to the Niagara-on-the-Lake Tennis Club’s season on Saturday.
An enthusiastic crowd at Memorial Park cheered on the competitors as they battled it out in the annual singles tournament finale.
Many matches were closely fought and some took more than two hours to complete.
Early rounds of the tourney took place during the week, with the semifinals and finals played on Saturday.
Three separate events were scheduled – the men’s A and B competition and the women’s tourney. Consolation matches also were played.
Mohsin Kamran was crowned men’s A champ, defeating Gerry McIlhone 7-6 (10) and 6-0.
Women’s singles winner Fran Doran beat Ann Davies in a very tight match, winning 6-4, 7-5.
In a battle that went to a tie-breaker, Sean Hilliker edged Harry Schlange 6-4, 5-7, 10-8 to become men’s B champ.
In the men’s A consolation match, Mike Symanski defeated Victor Zilinskas 6-2, 6-1, while Bill Devolin won the men’s B consolation 6-2, 6-3 over Alec Papidimitriou.
Natalie Early and Karen Rhind needed a tie-breaker to decide the women’s consolation final. Early prevailed 7-5, 1-6, 10-8.
It was the closing tournament of the season in what was a very active year for the club and its more than 350 members, club spokesperson Hugh Dow said.
“There have been many upgrades for the club and the participation from so many volunteers has made the Memorial Park courts what many consider to be the best tennis facility in the Niagara region,” he said.