Club Champs Finals Day 2025 - a showcase of superb tennis at Collaroy
- Collaroy Tennis Club
- Dec 6
- 8 min read
Updated: 31 minutes ago
On Saturday 6 December, it was HOT… and so was the tennis!
The temperature was 32C at 11am and tipped to keep rising as the day progressed, so Club Captain Kenny kept his eye on the thermometer all day to ensure Finals Day would be able to proceed within the parameters of Tennis Australia’s ‘excessive heat rule’… and thankfully, that cooling sea breeze for which Collaroy is so renowned, kept the conditions playable.
The Clubhouse was dressed in Christmas cheer (thanks Samantha and team), with a Christmas tree and tinsel inside and a blow-up Santa keeping a close eye on Court 5 play throughout the day.
We knew this year’s Finals were going to provide some brilliant tennis, but the matches played on December 6, were of a quality worthy of a higher level. Jordan Thompson and Chris O’Connell have been training at the Club recently in preparation for the Australian Summer of Tennis, and even they would have been impressed by some of the shot-making and incredible rallies on show.
The 2025 Club Championships smashed existing records left, right and centre. We had the most entrants EVER and played no less than 259 matches in total! 93 of those were in the Open Singles events, with a further 136 Open Doubles matches and 30 Junior Matches. Incredible!
Finals Day kicked off with the first match at 11:45am – the Junior Unisex Doubles – in which ‘the two Harrys’ proved an unstoppable combination. This was the first of 4 Finals on the day for 15-year-old Harry Henry and the first of 3, for fellow 15-year-old partner (and occasional rival) Harrison Harbour. This outstanding duo proved far too strong for brothers Nicholas and Vito Lorusso winning 6-1, 6-1… but with Vito only 10 years old, we can expect closer matches in the future.
Next up were more Junior matches, plus the Open Plate events for players who had been knocked out in the first round of the main draw. The Junior Girls Singles Final was a titanic struggle between 16-year-old Natalie Sironi (who also made it through to the Open Ladies Singles Final!) and 11-year-old Ella Phillips.
Natalie seemingly had the match in her keeping, winning the first set 6-4 and leading in the second. But Ella displayed the same ‘never say die’ attitude she demonstrated in winning her Semi-Final, digging in to win the 2nd Set in a nail-biting Tiebreaker. It then took a Match Tiebreak to separate the pair, with Ella holding on to win 10-7, causing somewhat of an upset in her first Collaroy Club Championships.
Men's Plate Finalists Zach (top) and Alvaro
The Junior Consolation Girls and Boys Singles Finals provided comfortable wins to Bella Lorusso and Charlie Richardson respectively. The Men’s Plate Final was a strange see-sawing match, Zach Harrison winning the first set against Alvaro del Pozo 6-0, before Alvaro struck back to take the 2nd set 6-1. Long, drawn out rallies were the order of the day, with Zach finally triumphing 10-4 in the match tiebreaker.
Ladies Plate Finalists Fiona (top) and Claudia
Fiona Kelly became our first ever back-to-back Ladies Singles Plate winner, earning a hard-fought 6-4, 6-4 victory over Claudia Walker. (Next year, we’ll have to make sure that Fiona doesn’t lose the first round of the Open as a tactic, ensuring entry into the Plate draw. 😊)
Former Doubles Partners Harry and Harrison then became rivals in the Junior Boys Singles Final. Harry stormed through the first set 6-2, but Harrison fought back bravely in the second, pushing his more fancied opponent all the way before the favourite eked out a 7-5 2nd set result to take the title in straight sets. That made it 2 from 2 for Harry, with 2 more to come!
From one end of the age spectrum to the other, it was then over to the Masters Men’s Singles Final in which our favourite Frenchman, Christophe Rymer faced Collaroy Badge Captain, Rob Terra in what was expected to be a close contest. But the ever-consistent Christophe ran Rob ragged and flew to a 6-1, 6-2 victory…. (the first for the international contingent on the day).
Then came the Open Ladies Singles Final – an all-international affair, with Top seed Emma Hodges (representing England), up against our Italian Exchange student, Natalie. In this instance, the seedings proved reliable with Emma proving too strong for her courageous teenage opponent, winning 6-2, 6-2. (A rendition of ‘God Save the King’ at the end of the match provided the high point of England’s summer in Australia to date.)
Up next was probably the Match of the Day – the Open Men’s Doubles Final, featuring young guns Pavle Popovich (20) and Kona Derrick (17) against seasoned veterans Tim Williams and Michal Korecky. Tim is a former Club Singles Champion, while Michal has been Runner Up in that event the last two years and is ranked in the Top 10 for his age in the world. Pavle is a former Club Junior Champion and would be contesting the Men's Open Singles Final later in the day.
Open Men's Doubles Champions, Tim (top) and Michal
Open Men's Doubles Runners Up, Pavle (top) and Kona
In a thrilling match, Pavle and Kona took the first set 6-4, but Tim and Michal were not to be denied, fighting back to take the 2nd 7-6 in a thrilling tiebreaker. The experienced combination was then just too solid in the Match Tiebreaker, taking it 10-5 to win the title.
The Open Ladies Doubles was another clash of the ages (if not for the ages). Young teenagers Marley (14) and Maiia (13) were outstanding, storming to victory over their far more experienced opponents Ginette and Janette. This really was the year when the Club’s ‘young guns’ made their mark, with Marley and Maiia set to return as rivals later in the day.
The blue riband Men’s Open Singles Final was Harry’s 3rd match of the day and Pavle’s second. Five years older than his teenage opponent, left-handed Pavle was simply too strong in the 1st set, hitting the ball to all corners of the court with amazing power and firing down serves with both pace and pinpoint accuracy. But Harry’s a competitor. He came back strongly in the 2nd set, which featured some spine-tingling rallies.
The older and stronger Pavle was simply too good in the end, taking the Final 6-2, 6-4, but this is a rivalry that promises to feature prominently in Club Championship Finals well into the future.
The penultimate match of the day was the Masters Ladies Singles Final and though only lasting two sets in total, this was a match of attrition that went for nearly three hours (including a couple of short rain breaks). Karen Gillis kept the family name front and centre at Collaroy, nudging out the vastly improved Angie Kemp 7-6, 6-3 in a long and grinding match. Well done to both ladies on magnificent performances.
Club Championships Presentation
Given the Finals to date had drawn out the program to nearly 6pm, and with the threat of thunderstorms still present, the tournament committee decided to hold the presentation of trophies prior to the last match of the day.
Then it was on to that last Final – the Open Mixed Doubles - which proved to be one of the best matches of the day.
This time it was an ‘all young guns’ affair, with Harry (playing his 4th Final) partnering Marley (in her 2nd) against Harrison (in his 3rd Final) and Maiia (in her 2nd). This was always going to be a close one and the quality tennis on display kept spectators who had stayed to watch ‘the final Final’ on the edge of their seats, applauding non-stop spectacular rallies.
All four players traded massive groundstrokes from the baseline, the girls giving as good as they got from the boys. There were also some superb volleys and deft touch shots in a complete all-round display of quality tennis.
Harry and Marley won the first set in a hard-fought tiebreaker, but Harrison and Maiia fought back to take the 2nd 6-3 and eventually ran out winners in the Match Tiebreaker, 10-5. It was a fitting finish to a stunning day’s tennis that finished at around 7:45pm!
Congratulations to everyone who competed in the 2025 Club Championships – definitely one of Collaroy’s best ever - and in particular, to all the Finalists who made this such a special day.
Christmas Festivities
The Club Christmas Party was scheduled to kick in as the tennis came to a close, but due to the insanely close matches all day, it actually started early and was virtually all over by 8:30pm. This has led to a decision by the committee to hold the 2026 Christmas Party on a date separate to Finals Day.
Our pescatarian Glenn was confronted with a huge selection of meats, while Santa's Little Helpers served up a sensational Finals Day Feast. Thanks to all our wonderful volunteers.
That said, there was still plenty of celebrating... the selection of food organised by Secretary Kate and her team of Santa’s kitchen helpers was spectacular. A 7kg leg of glazed ham was cooked to perfection by Chef Glenn, who also manned the BBQ, delivering an exquisitely prepared lamb shoulder, gourmet sausages and chicken skewers.
A HUGE thanks too to all the volunteer members who provided a selection of magnificent salads and desserts… what a feast!
Those nice (but slightly naughty) elves, Anna and Michela, added to the atmosphere, providing the refreshing sustenance we needed to sustain us throughout a long day of cheering from the sidelines. (See more photos below)
A Christmas playlist kept the festive mood flowing and we even rolled out two newly acquired POP Tennis kits on Court 6 towards day’s end (thank you Tennis NSW). This proved really popular with the youngsters present, the Hodges family on fire across one net while champion youngsters Natalie and Ella combined to take on all-comers (notably Peter Madew, Glenn and Simone) across the other.
This will be a fun addition to future events and will next feature at our AO Pride Night on January 29 (and perhaps at our own Grand Slam AO Social on Saturday January 31).
Thanks to Club Captain Kenny and his competition sub-committee (incl. Wil and Ros) for running such an outstanding event, to Wil for filling the role of official photographer once again, to Martin for all his hard work as he presided over his first Finals Day in his second stint as Club President, and to all the members, friends and family who turned up to make this such a special day. ‘Til next year!
Comments