Juneau wins back Capital Cup after weekend outdoor tennis tournament

Home court advantage hasn't played a factor in the recently re-introduced Capital Cup tennis tournament.

Home court advantage hasn’t played a factor in the recently re-introduced Capital Cup tennis tournament.

On each of the three occasions since the Juneau/Whitehorse competition resumed in July 2008, the host community has seen the visitors drive home with the trophy.

This past weekend, Juneau reclaimed what it lost earlier in the year, winning on Whitehorse’s Mt. McIntyre courts 265-195.

Tennis Yukon president Stacy Lewis said she had high hopes of defending the title.

“That’s a little bit disappointing, but it’s OK,” she said. “We’ll go back (to Juneau) in the winter and try and win it back. But it was a little bit sad to see it go.”

The Capital Cup is held twice a year (once in Juneau in the winter and again in Whitehorse in the summer).

The most recent edition featured nine players from Juneau (eight men and one woman) and about 20 from Whitehorse.

The format counts the games won in a singles or doubles match between players representing Whitehorse and players from Juneau.

Lewis said it would probably be closer if the Capital Cup only counted the match victories, but added this way allows each player to make a contribution regardless of whether they win or lose a match.

“When you win by a big spread it ends up kind of adding up quickly,” she said. “We played eight game pro sets, so as soon as they get a few 8-0, 8-1s, the overall team tally starts jumping up at a pretty rapid rate.”

Some Yukon notables this weekend include Tennis Yukon’s head instructor Jan Polivka, who played in each of the three finals on Sunday and Ryan Lane.

Lane defeated Juneau’s second best junior player on Friday and went on to win the junior division.

His performance this past weekend stands out in Lewis’s mind.

“If anybody stepped it up for this tournament I would have to say it’s him,” she said about Lane.

Capital Cup results Mixed doubles final:

Leighann Chalykoff/Jan Polivka (Whitehorse) vs. Mona Yarnell/Vini Lata (Juneau).

Yarnell/Lata won 6-4, 6-3.
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Men’s “A” singles final:

Jan Polivka (Whitehorse) vs. Vini Lata (Juneau). Polivka won 6-1, 6-2.
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Men’s “A” doubles final:

Jan Polivka/Lada Polivka (Whitehorse) vs. Vini Lata/Steve Hamilton (Juneau). Polivka/Polivka won 6-1, 6-4.
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Men’s “B” singles:

Nils Clarke (Whitehorse) won the Men’s “B” singles division in a round robin format played against Keith Halliday (Whitehorse), Mike McClellan (Juneau) and Matt Jones (Juneau).
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Men’s “B” doubles:

Nils Clarke and Keith Halliday (Whitehorse) defeated Mike McClellan/Matt Jones (Juneau), 8-3 in the Men’s “B” doubles final.
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Women’s “A” singles:

Mona Yarnell (Juneau) finished with a perfect 3-0 record in round-robin competition against Laurie Drummond, Sophia Flather, and Beth Ellis.

Besides Yarnell all of the players in the Women’s “A” singles category represented Whitehorse.
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Women’s “B” singles:

The Women’s “B” singles division was won by Shelley Dixon (Whitehorse).

Dixon accumulated a record of 2-0 record in a round-robin played against Patti Flather and Sheila Senger. All of the players in the women’s “B” singles category were from Whitehorse.
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Junior singles division:

Ryan Lane (Whitehorse) defeated Kieran Halliday (Whitehorse) in the junior singles division final.

Halliday and Lane will represent the Yukon in tennis at this year’s Canada Summer Games in August.

Other Whitehorse players participating in the tournament: Ken Liu, Michel Gelinas, Lars Johansson, Michael Tilbrook, Stacy Lewis, Sophia Flather, Christopher Anderson, Ben Pereira, Khang Pham, Louis Kedziora, Bryce Anderson, Pascale Halliday, JJ Cannings, Ewan Halliday, and Zachary Giczi.

The remaining Juneau players that took part this past weekend included Mark Poplis, Denny Salveson, Art Dee, and Brian Vandor.

The next big tennis event in the Yukon is the territory’s championships, scheduled from July 31 to Aug. 2.