Shaw Park Coaches Win Open Tournament
Congratulations go to two of our tennis coaches for winning the Nambour Tennis Open which took place over the past two weekends. Gareth Keating and Will Mason were the last team standing of the 32-strong draw of doubles teams in the Open Tournament that hosted a selection of the state’s best players. Gareth and Will won the final 7/6 6/3 on Sunday afternoon in the blistering heat of summer’s hottest day this year.
Former champions of the event include some of the best players of Queensland’s tennis-playing history; Will and Gareth will now have their names engraved on the past champions board alongside such names as Pat Rafter and Mal Anderson.
Gareth and Will last played doubles together in 2004 where they competed in a French National League of team tennis, representing the Evreux Tennis Club.
Will has recently returned to Australia after a 6-year stint coaching tennis at one of the most prestigious tennis clubs in Geneva, Switzerland. “I haven’t competed seriously in a tournament since my shoulder surgery a few years ago, and although my focus will remain on coaching, this weekend’s win serves as encouragement to team up with Gareth again so that we can hopefully build on this week’s success. It was a lot of fun.” After 12 years playing and coaching overseas, Will has recently taken a position coaching at Clayfield College and the Shaw Park Tennis Centre.
When asked about the event, Gareth said “We entered the tournament unseeded with our main motivation to get fit. I didn’t realize we would have a shot to go so deep in the draw. It’s been 7 years since we played together.” Gareth added, “At 32 and 31 years of age, its going to take some serious training to get fit enough to win singles titles, so we might have to postpone that for a while!”.
