It was a small group of players, but they had a big impact on the results of the annual Back to School Doubles Tournament in Juneau, Alaska, over the weekend.
With just seven players making the trip, playing in all seven categories, Yukoners won three titles and produced strong placings in the remaining divisions.
“I’m really pleased. I think this might be our best showing - this is our third time going,” said Tennis Yukon president Stacy Lewis. “This tournament is a fundraiser for the high school tennis team, so this tends to have a lot of high school students in it. It’s doubles only, so there’s lots of people.”
Whitehorse’s Ryan Lane and Kieran Halliday, who represented the Yukon at the Canada Summer Games last summer, went undefeated in the junior advanced doubles for the title, defeating a Juneau team 6-4, 6-3 in the final.
“I think Kieran and Ryan have really improved as players, both as individuals and as a team,” said Lewis. “Their court presence, their confidence and ability to deliver in hard situations was really noticeable.”
Yukon’s Alex Roberts and Aline Halliday also went undefeated in the junior beginner doubles round-robin for the title, while Anne Copland, along with a Juneau player, went undefeated for the women’s doubles title.
“It was quite a change of guards in Juneau; the boys that used to play high school tennis there all graduated,” said Lewis. “So there were some newer players there that were quite strong. But it was new for us to be the ones with more experience walking out on the court.”
In the men’s Pool A doubles, Yukon’s Roan Evans-Ehricht and Juneau partner Steve Hamilton secured a third-place finish, while Keiran Halliday and Lane took the same spot in the men’s Pool B doubles, losing to the team they would later defeat in the junior advanced finals.
In the mixed doubles, Keiran and Lewis met Lane and Copland in a match for third, with both teams having lost in the semis, with the former winning 8-4 in a pro-set.
“They took down a bubble in Juneau and two courts aren’t under the bubble anymore,” said Lewis. “They put the four of us outside because they said they thought we were used to playing on outdoor courts. But it was a nice weekend in Juneau, so it was fine.”
Finally, in the junior intermediate doubles Roberts and Evans-Ehricht battled their way to a fifth-place finish.
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com