The Yukon Tennis Championships came to an end on Monday with two exciting title matches to decide the U14 and U16 winners at the Mount McIntyre tennis courts. The adult and U12 championships were held in the weeks prior.

We will begin with the older players. In a three-game match, Kaelen Halowaty outlasted Gavin Howells 2-6, 6-4, 7-6.

The first game of the best of three match belonged to Howells, who had his serve working and was making few unforced errors as he cruised to the first set win.

Starting the second game, it appeared Howells would be making quick work of Halowaty as he took an early 3-0 advantage. Halowaty, however, showed no quit eventually tying and then defeating Howells to tie the match.

“I just wanted to make sure I got the ball in the court,” said Halowaty about the second game.

“Hopefully he makes errors so I don’t have to lose.”

The third game and deciding game of the match was a back-and-forth affair. Both players were leaving it on the court, each player noticeably fatigued. Halowaty was battling blisters to his racket hand.

The game reached 6-6 which meant it had to go to a tie-breaker. To take the title of champion, the winning player had to reach seven and win by two.

In what became a final battle of attrition, it was Halowaty who made fewer errors and took the tie-breaker 7-5. As he watched Howells return sail long out of the back of the court, Halowaty dropped his racket and held his hands in the air.

“It’s definitely nerve-wracking,” said Halowaty. “I don’t like tie-breakers. It was a long game.”

The game clocked in at two-and-a-half hours.

The U14 game was played between Oliver Halowaty and Evan Howells, the younger brothers of the U16s.

Evan was able to outlast Oliver 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 on his way to being named the U14 champion.

The first game of the match went to a tie-breaker, showing how evenly matched the two younger players were.

The start of the tie-break saw both Evan and Oliver trade points early. Evan was able to create a small one-point cushion with his serve and that made the difference as he took the first game.

Oliver was winning the first game 5-2 before Evan got into the swing of the game. He attributed his comeback to his serve coming around.

“I was feeling pretty well until I went up to serve and wasn’t really getting any of them in,” said Evan.

“I was feeling pretty down but I came back.”

Evan said once the game went to a tie-breaker he was feeling more confident.

“My serve was a lot better and I wasn’t really that worried,” said Evan. “I was just focusing on just getting the ball back.”

In the second game of the match, Evan carried the momentum forward and took the game and match quickly.

“My serves were really on and I don’t think I got one double fault,” said Evan. “That was the only part of my game that was really flawed.”

Oliver said it was pretty hard to lose the tie-break and in the second he just ran out of steam.

“In the second set, I’m not really used to playing two sets,” said Oliver. “I was getting tired. Evan did play really well.”

With a quality match for both the young players, a rivalry could be in the making. Oliver for one said he will be ready for next year.

“I’m coming for you next year,” he said to Evan.