Bennett Cup stalemate

Honours were even after the first round of play in the prestigious Bennett Cup fixture recently.

The annual two-leg competition between representatives of the Marlborough Tennis Club and the Nelson Lawns Tennis Club team is level at 22-22 after the previous weekend’s action in Nelson.

The trophy’s history dates to the mid-1920s, making it one of the longest-standing club tennis ties still going in New Zealand.

Teams from each club, comprising 12 men and 12 women compete in doubles, singles and mixed doubles.

Sunday’s early action suggested the first meeting of the two clubs would be close.

Following the opening doubles and reverse doubles, both Nelson and Marlborough had won eight matches each, with five of these requiring a super tiebreak third set to decide the outcome, underlining the close nature of the tennis.

Nelson’s men came to the fore in the singles, winning six of the eight clashes and pushing the home side to a four-match lead. The only successes for Marlborough came from Dan Clarke and Stu Campbell.

By contrast, the women’s singles were much more even, being shared 4-4.

With Nelson ahead by four the pressure was on Marlborough’s mixed doubles combinations and they delivered in front of eager teammates, winning eight of the 12 encounters to level the overall scoreline at 22-22.

Now attention turns to the return fixture, at the Marlborough Tennis Club on February 23, where the destination of the Bennett Cup for this season will be decided.