By Michael Esposito
LISTON Tennis Club is primed to take the Victorian tennis premier league title when it takes on Geelong Lawn on Sunday.
The Williamstown-based club has remained undefeated in the state’s top summer tennis competition in what head coach Dane Nebel has described as a perfect season so far.
“We set ourselves for it. Whoever finished on top went straight into the Grand Final. It’s all gone according to plan so far,” Nebel said.
The club is only in its second year in the pennant’s top division, making the achievement even more impressive.
“We’ve always been strong in juniors but not so much in pennant,” Nebel, who has been at the club for 22 years, said. “But a couple of years ago we decided to play Grade 1 … and we went really well and made the grand final, and decided we’d go for State grade, which we did last year, and we’ve just kept on going.”
Because the format of play changed this year (there are six singles and three doubles instead of four singles and two doubles), the club needed to top up its list, and it snared some handsome recruits. Dayne Kelly, the 330th ranked player in the world, has come in as the side’s No. 1 player and has not dropped a set.
Kelly’s most notable performance was a 6-4, 6-4 defeat of former Davis Cup player Richard Fromberg, who reached No. 24 in the world in 1990.
James Wong, Nima Roshan and new recruit Jordan Szabo, who just finished his VCE exams, have also won every match this season.
Szabo will attend Texas A&M University next year on a tennis scholarship.
Nebel said Liston, which defeated Geelong six sets to three during the season, is likely to use seven players in the grand final.
Kelly will be the No.1 singles player, followed by Rubin Statham, Nima Roshan, Oliver Statham and James Wong. Nebel was yet to make a decision on the No. 6 player – Szabo or Andrew Gregory.
The doubles will be partnered up as follows: Kelly and Szabo (No. 1), Roshan and Rubin Statham, and Wong and Oliver Statham.
Nebel is confident his team had the goods to claim victory.
“We weren’t at full strength against Geelong and still beat them,” he said.
