Kaelen Halowaty became the first tennis player to hoist a trophy as he downed Josh Lauer 6-0, 6-1, to win the junior division of the Yukon Tennis Championships.

Halowaty is accustomed to having his name on the trophy. His 2020 win gives him back-to-back victories – last year, he dispatched Gavin Howells in a thrilling 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 match.

”It feels pretty good,” said Halowaty modestly when asked about what it meant to him to repeat as champion.

After last year’s win, Halowaty said he ”just wanted to make sure I got the ball in the court, hopefully, he makes errors so I don’t have to lose.”

Both Halowaty and Lauer went undefeated through to their final match to decide the champion – the junior tournament was decided by round-robin play.

Halowaty said he felt his game has continued to grow since last year’s triumph.

”I got my serve in a lot more than last year,” said Halowaty, who said when he’s been able to work on his game that’s been his focus.

Halowaty did have his serve working for him early. With power, his served moved around the court, hitting the far corners or painting the line.

When Lauer got his racket on the ball for the return, Halowaty’s speed allowed him to pick up and return his opponent’s shots.

Although the score seemed lopsided, Lauer covered the court nicely, rarely even getting beaten by shots going past him.

Halowaty said his opponent gave him a tough match.

”He played really good,” he said.

Because of COVID-19, Tennis Yukon had to implement certain measures to receive the all-clear to play. For Halowaty, he was just excited to be out there.

”It feels different there not being people,” said Halowaty. ”It just feels different playing against people when you have to be apart.”

With two consecutive wins, Halowaty said he will be back again to try and defend the title.

The tennis action continues next week, as doubles, mixed doubles, and the Men’s B final get settled.

Ken Anola is the Men’ A singles champion by default, his opponent had to withdraw because of injury.