麻豆社区

Less than 12 months after his five-year winning streak was snapped at the hands of Justin Halowaty, Jan Polivka re-entered the winner鈥檚 circle Friday.

The 34-year-old tennis coach earned his sixth men鈥檚 singles title in the last seven years, defeating challenger Kyle Marchuk, 36, in straight sets 7-5, 7-5.

鈥淚t was a close game,鈥� Polivka said this morning. 鈥淲e started pretty strong 鈥� both of us. I鈥坵ould say we both didn鈥檛 play our best, but I am always consistent, and that鈥檚 probably my biggest weapon.鈥�

The game was played late Friday afternoon at the Mount McIntyre courts in front of a crowd of about 20 people. The pinnacle of the Yukon tennis season even featured ball boys.

Halowaty, the 2014 men鈥檚 singles champion, was eliminated by Marchuk in a semifinal clash.

The 2014 champion dethroned Polivka last year, becoming the first to do so since Marchuk鈥檚 last Yukon championship in 2008.

Beating Marchuk to win the 2015 title was significant, Polivka said.

鈥淜yle usually beats me four times out of five matches,鈥� he chuckled. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a better player than me, but I always beat him when we play in finals, I don鈥檛 know why.鈥�

In other divisions, Vickie Roche beat Anne Copland in straight sets 6-1, 6-3 to earn the Yukon women鈥檚 singles title.

The two were the only women registered for singles play as Aline Halliday did not defend her 2014 title.

Roche also teamed up with Laurie Drummond to win the women鈥檚 doubles title 6-1, 7-6 over Copland and partner Nancy Hughes.

Meanwhile, the Halliday brothers 鈥� Kieran and Ewan 鈥� earned the men鈥檚 doubles title over Michel Gelinas and Shahid Syed, while Marchuk and Roche combined to beat Gelinas and Drummond in the mixed doubles final.

Four teams competed in men鈥檚 doubles, and three took part in the mixed event. Final scores were not available for those championship matches.

Polivka recently returned from the Western Canada Summer Games in Fort McMurray where he tutored three athletes through the multi-sport tournament.

Ewan Halliday strung together some fine singles matches, while Matthias Hoenisch and Alex Roberts hit the court as a doubles duo.

鈥淚n general, it went well,鈥� the coach said. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 win, but Ewan had really good matches against all of the teams.

鈥淎ll the singles players were at least a year older than him, but it鈥檚 a long-term plan with the peak being at the next Canada Games when they will all be a good age.鈥�

Back at home, the format of the territorial championships was altered this season to counter scheduling conflicts, explained Tennis Yukon president Stacy Lewis.

鈥淲e ran it over a month this year,鈥� she told the Star. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had rainouts occur in the past and it allowed us to run every draw as a round robin.鈥�

Lewis was especially pleased with the men鈥檚 singles draw, which featured 14 players 鈥� enough for two pools.

However, she noted it would be nice to see more female participation in future tournaments.

鈥淲e were hoping for a better uptake on the women鈥檚 side,鈥� Lewis admitted.

In total, 25 people took part in the 2015 championships.

Aside from the playoffs, Lewis said the club sold about 160 shoetags for court access this summer, a number consistent with last season鈥檚 turnout.

Lewis noted the program is the 鈥渂est measuring stick鈥� for tennis participation in the territory.

However, this year鈥檚 turnout did feature a unique twist that saw 50 new players register for the shoetag program that works to support court maintenance 鈥� an unexpected boost.

While the competitive tennis season is now over, the nets will remain up until the Thanksgiving weekend, weather-permitting.

That will serve the 鈥渓unchtime crowd鈥� well, Lewis predicted, as the onset of fall in the territory makes for cool mornings and evenings.

Following the removal of the nets, Tennis Yukon will move its operations indoors, hosting a Tuesday night adult recreational evening at Yukon College.

Aside from the regular junior programming, the 10-week adult program will allow players to hit the courts from 6:30 to 8 p.m. once a week.