The first tournament of the 2018 Yellowknife Tennis Club's season is in the books and not a moment too soon.
But it wasn't their fault. Blame Mother Nature.
The Season Opener's final match was played on Sunday with the men's singles final putting a wrap on proceedings. It was Fabien Roux defeating Jim Umpherson in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4 to win the title and it put an end to a tournament that Tami Johnson, the club's general manager, thought would never end.
“We thought it would be no problem to finish up during the week but it just kept getting worse and worse with the rain,” she said.
The tournament was scheduled to begin back on June 8 but like everything else that was supposed to happen that Friday, rain meant everything had to be pushed back to the following day.
“We had ourselves a full day that Saturday and went to around 9 p.m. that night,” said Johnson.
The rain came back on Sunday and that meant more schedule changes with matches scheduled to be played during the week.
Problem was the weather didn't want to co-operate.
“We were only able to play one semifinal on that Sunday,” said Johnson.
When the rain let up long enough, there were some very close matches, especially when it came to the doubles. The men's doubles featured Alex Godfrey and Brooke Harker up against Umpherson and Ian MacNiven, a match that went the distance before Godfrey and Harker prevailed in three sets, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4.
The women's doubles only had two teams in it, that being the pairings of Elizabeth duPlessis and Tina Hendrickson along with Anna Zimmer and Tiffany Bates, meaning just one match was needed to determine the winner. Both teams made the most of it as that match also went to a third set before duPlessis and Hendrickson came out on top, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5.
“The ladies doubles final was a long one,” said Johnson. “Lots of points and lots of rallies.”
Overall, Johnson said the games were close for the most part, even if the scores sometimes didn't reflect that.
“We had some really even games,” she said. “A lot of first-time players played in the tournament, which was great because we always say if you can rally, you can play.”
In terms of the numbers for this year, the club boasts 195 members as of Monday and Johnson said that's coming close to making shoe tags a luxury.
“I only ordered 200,” she said with a giggle. “But it shows we're growing, considering we only had 50 members two years ago.”
FACT FILE – Season Opener results
Men's singles
- Fabien Roux beat Jim Umpherson, 6-2, 6-2
Women's singles
- Tamara Jovic beat Hiro Kobayashi, 6-1, 6-0
Men's doubles
- Alex Godfrey and Brooke Harker beat Jim Umpherson and Ian MacNiven, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4
Women's doubles
- Elizabeth duPlessis and Tina Hendrickson beat Anna Zimmer and Tiffany Bates, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5
Mixed doubles
- Tamara and Nikola Jovic beat Obed Duru Jr. and Olga Duru, 6-2, 6-4