Antwerp has celebrated its first Dimboola & District Tennis Association premiership after a thrilling day of tennis on Saturday.

On their home courts at the Health and Fitness Centre, Antwerp claimed what would appear a decisive win to claim premiership honours 13 sets to five, its first District Cup success.

After finishing on top of the ladder at the end of the home and away season, Antwerp set up its victory in the mixed doubles section after a tense battle that saw them claim all six sets on offer.

But it was far from one-sided with three of the sets going the full distance to tiebreakers and the other three sets being 9-6 results in favour of the home team.

Antwerp captain Tim Jorgensen teamed with Abbey Greig to claim the first of the tie-break results in the opening set over opposing skipper Jacob Holm and Zali Brown before Nathan Jorgensen and Carly Werner followed suit in the second set with another tie-break win over Mal McLean and Remy George.

Antwerp continued to apply the pressure in the third and fourth sets with 9-6 victories when Chris Avery and Emily Polack and Don Clark and Heather Jorgensen claimed victories.

The third of the tie-break wins came in the fifth set when Daniel Polack and Sam Baker outlasted Lou White and Nicole McLean before Shane Bond and Alicia Albrecht teamed to claim the final set 9-6 over Alex Kovoor and Tahlia Durie.

The wash-up of the mixed saw Antwerp lead 54 games to 42, but more importantly, had banked six sets which would ultimately secure the premiership.

From that point on Antwerp was able to maintain its buffer on the scoreboard when their ladies produced a match-winning performance to dominate their section.

Hopetoun, looking to claim 10 of the remaining 12 sets on offer, faced a huge task and through the men’s section was able to remain in the contest-winning five of the six sets on offer.

But with each win in the men’s section, Antwerp was able to answer in the ladies section and retain their advantage.

Holm and McLean started well for Hopetoun with an opening 9-2 win in the first men’s set before Don Clark and Chris Avery answered for Antwerp to claim a vital 9-5 win in the second set.

Hopetoun then claimed the remaining four sets of the section with a 9-5 win to Holm and Taylor Donnan and a 9-4 win to Tony George and Alex Kovoor.

Donnan then teamed with McLean to claim a 9-4 victory before Lou White and Kovoor rounded out the section with a 9-6 win in the final set.

Hopetoun finished the section with five sets, 50 games to Antwerp’s one set, 30 games.

The ladies’ section was a complete reversal to the men when Abbey Greig and Emily Polack started a clean sweep of wins with a 9-3 victory in the opening set.

Heather Jorgensen and Alicia Albrecht then claimed the second set 9-2 as Antwerp continued its winning way and when Greig and Carly Werner won the third set 9-4, Antwerp had secured the premiership, winning their team’s 10th set and an insurmountable lead.

Jorgensen and Sam Baker then teamed for the fourth tiebreaker of the day when they outlasted Emma Mill and Tahlia Durie before Werner and Polack claimed a 9-4 win in the penultimate set of the section.

Completing their clean sweep of wins saw Albrecht and Baker team for a commanding 9-1 win in the final set of the section to give their team a 54 games to 22 win.

This saw Antwerp finish the day with 13 sets, 138 games to Hopetoun’s five sets, 114 games.

Association executives Rikki Nitschke and Sarah Spicer from Warracknabeal then presented the District Premiership Cup to Jorgensen and presented winning medals to the Antwerp players and congratulated the team on their success.

The result saw Antwerp break a run of three consecutive premierships to Hopetoun and add a third name to the District Cup, joining Warrack Gold and Hopetoun as previous winners.

Grand Final Result

Antwerp 13 sets, 138 games defeated Hopetoun 5 sets, 114 games.

Mixed: Tim Jorgensen, Abbey Greig d Jacob Holm, Zali Brown 9-8; Nathan Jorgensen, Carly Werner d Mal McLean, Remy George 9-8; Chris Avery, Emily Polack d Taylor Donnan, Jonti George 9-6; Don Clark, Heather Jorgensen d Tony George, Emma Mill 9-6; Daniel Polack, Samantha Baker d Lou White, Nicole McLean 9-8; Shane Bond, Alicia Albrecht d Alex Kovoor, Tahlia Durie 9-6.

Men: T. Jorgensen, D. Polack lost J. Holm, M. McLean 2-9; D. Clark, C. Avery d T. George, L. White 9-5; T. & N. Jorgensen lost to J. Holm, T. Donnan 5-9; D. Clark, S. Bond lost to T. George, A. Kovoor 4-9; N. Jorgensen, D. Polack lost to T. Donnan, M. McLean 4-9; C. Avery, S. Bond lost to L. White, A. Kovoor 6-9.

Ladies: A. Greig, E. Polack d Z. Brown, J. George 9-3; H. Jorgensen, A. Albrecht d E. Mill, N. McLean 9-2; A. Greig, C. Werner d Z. Brown, R. George 9-4; H. Jorgensen, S. Baker d E. Mill, T. Durie 9-8; C. Werner, E. Polack d R. & J. George 9-4; A. Albrecht, S. Baker d N. McLean, T. Durie 9-1.