Wellington and Lower Hutt grand final winners

Wellington snapped Thorndon's dominance of the men's scene, while Lower Hutt beat Khandallah in the women's decider in Wellington's premier one tennis grand finals.

The Renouf Tennis Centre played host on Saturday to one of the strongest Wellington club tennis fields in years.

Thorndon boasted Davis Cup squad member Adam Thompson and former Davis Cup players Steven Downs and Matt Dewar.

But Wellington's youthful lineup won the day.

Their ranks included Marcus Daniell, on the verge of breaking into the Davis Cup squad, and Argentinian Gustavo Gomez.

Wellington prevailed 4-2 overall – with Daniell and Gomez drawing first blood in the No1 doubles against Thompson and Dewar (3-6, 6-3, 6-3).

Thorndon hit back in the No2 doubles with Downs and Marc Paulik dominating the net and defeating Eru Lyndon and Sam Vinton-Boot (7-5, 6-2).

In the No1 singles matchup, a consistent Daniell was too much for Thompson in a 6-1, 7-5 win, while in the No2 singles, Gomez's court speed helped him to a 6-4, 6-2 defeat of Downs.

Paulik then faced a must-win No3 singles match against Lyndon and he responded with a 6-4, 6-4 victory to keep the tie alive at 3-2.

But rising junior Marco Comuzzo then sealed the tie for Wellington with a comfortable 6-1, 6-1 win against Dewar.

"Marco Comuzzo is to me an outstanding prospect," Wellington manager Mark Leggett said.

"He's got the mental ability and he's a big lad. He's got power and he's only 18.

"He's a guy that's got a lot of potential in New Zealand tennis. We've probably been the club that's given them [Thorndon] the most resistance over the last seven or eight years.

"We did win it five or six years ago and then two years ago we lost to them by one game."

Wellington paid for the services of three players from outside the province in an all-out bid to snap Thorndon's dominance this season.

But Leggett didn't know if they would be back.

"We would love to see the standard lifted, but from our club's point of view we probably can't really sustain it forever. We just haven't got that kind of finance to keep doing it."

The women's grand final was a similar contrast between the experience of Lower Hutt and the promise of a Khandallah team all 18 years or under.

In the doubles, Lower Hutt's No1 pair, Hanna and Rachel Baxter, easily won the first match 6-3, 6-0 against Khandallah duo Hannah Seeman and Madison Young.

Lower Hutt No2 pairing Julie Scott and Carmel Sheehan carried on in similar style with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Paige Hourigan and Bridget Liddell.

Scott gave Lower Hutt a 3-0 lead with a 6-1, 6-4 defeat of Seeman in the No 1 singles. Jen Burridge beat Daria Korobanova, 7-6, 6-3 to seal the final for Lower Hutt.

But Khandallah restored some pride with Hourigan beating Rachel Baxter 6-0, 6-2 and Liddell winning 6-1, 6-0 for a final margin of 4-2.

- © Fairfax NZ News