Grant and Pannu reign on the courts

BY PENNY MILES

Matthew Grant turned on the power to stun top seed and Wellington College team-mate James Capovilla to nail his first College Sport Wellington senior title.

New champions were crowned in both the senior boys' and girls' singles at Wellington's Renouf Tennis Centre last Thursday, with Wellington East's Saravinder Pannu beating St Mary's Alex Tully in the girls' singles final.

Grant, seeded second, served consistent winners and hit a barrage of powerful baseline shots to dash Capovilla's hopes to win 5-4 1-4 [8-6], over the shortened format.

"I'm really pleased because I haven't been playing the greatest lately," Grant said.

"In the semi, the guy, Mitchell McDonald (Paraparaumu College) beat me last week [in another tournament], so it was good just to be out there and be hitting well."

Despite having a more powerful game than Capovilla, Grant was made to look out of depth in the second set, with Capovilla finding his range with crafty retrieving and a string of accurate passing shots.

With the match balanced heading into the tie-break, Capovilla looked to hold the upper hand, however, Grant chose his moment to regain his composure.

Grant said he supported the quick-fire scoring system.

"There's probably not enough time in the day for best-of-three set games," Grant said.

He is training for the ITF junior tournaments in Fiji and Australia in May.

"There will be a group of us going over from Clint Packer's squad," Grant said.

"I just hope to get some junior international ranking points. At the moment my ranking is in the 1000s."

Grant coaches at the Tawa club and plays in their top regional one men's team. He hopes to win a college tennis scholarship to the United States next year.

In the girls' final, 15-year-old Pannu overcame a slow start to beat top seed Alex Tully 0-4 4-1 [4-0].

"I'm really pleased because it's my first year in the seniors and I lost the junior final last year," Pannu said.

Pannu experienced her first taste of national success this summer. She was part of the five-strong girls' Central region team that won the national 14s teams title in January.

Wellington College's Luke and Sam Piercey defended their CSW senior boys' doubles titles, beating Hutt Valley High School's Kieran Casbolt and Mac Leesburg.

In the girls doubles final, Chilton's Katie Fraser and Caitlin Carter surprised the Wellington Girls' top seeds Alisha Venter and Courtney Young.

- © Fairfax NZ News