Nineteen local tennis players were competing in Juneau this past weekend for the Capital Cup tournament.

It was the largest contingent Tennis Yukon has ever sent to the event.

Over 50 matches were played and in the end Juneau lead the final tally with 293 points compared to 292 for Whitehorse.

It was the closest finish in the history of the tournament.

"It was a heartbreaker,” said Stacy Lewis, president of Tennis Yukon.

"It was just so close and after three days of play, we were tied heading into the last round of matches.”

Despite dropping the tournament, it was a successful venture for the local club who will now have a shot at redemption when Juneau travels to Whitehorse for the second Capital Cup in July.

The matches were played in a pro-set format, where the first player to win eight games takes the match. Each game that was won counted towards the player's team.

Lewis said the tournament has improved over the years as the players become more familiar with each other.

"The matches are getting better and better,” she said. "As we learn more about the players we can get the games set up appropriately.”

The tournament field is open to all ages and skill levels.

"We'll find anyone that wants to a play a match,” said Lewis.

Despite suffering reduced gym hours this season, the local club has performed well.

"It's good competition between the clubs which is a bit surprising because we don't have any indoor courts” said Lewis. "They play all winter and we're playing on the gym surfaces, which isn't the same.”

Whitehorse players Louis Kedziora and Pascale Halliday were named the Yukon MVP's of the tournament.

Halliday, playing at the junior level with lower compression tennis balls and at three-quarter court size, was able to go undefeated.

Kedziora was one match away from a perfect record but dropped his mixed-doubles match on the last day of play.

"Louis was just walking onto the court and winning everything,” said Lewis.

"They played great. They were very happy with the results.”

The local club traveled with 15 junior players, far exceeding their counterparts.

"They (Juneau) don't have as many juniors participating as we do, so there's not as much competition for them amongst other juniors and they end up applying other adults,” said Lewis.

"It was an exciting event and having something like that gives people something to work for and look forward to,” said Lewis.

"It gives you enthusiasm to be in the gym.” Tennis Yukon is now moving into the next session of their season and their enrollment numbers are back up to 55 players after taking a slight dip with their reduced winter hours.

The club will now have 20 hours of court time.

Lewis said they're expecting to be in the gym for the next six to eight weeks before

they transition onto the outdoor courts.

"We're scheduled to play indoors until May 18th but last season we shoveled the courts the first weekend of May and we were able to get back out there,” she said.

Many of the local players took advantage of spring break to train and practice for the full week on the indoor courts in Juneau.

"It's a great opportunity for us to get to Juneau for several days in a row,” said Lewis. "Juneau's courts are the closest indoor courts for us. We train in the gym for nearly six months, looking forward to this week in Juneau, and then when we get back to Whitehorse, there's only about 6-8 weeks left before we can get outside on our real courts.”

Tennis Yukon head coach Jan Polivka, Tennis Yukon coach Mike Russo, Anne Copland, Keith Halliday were the four adult players the club sent.

The 15 junior players were: Khang Pham, Kieran Halliday, Louis Kedziora, Aline Halliday, Alex Roberts, Pascale Halliday, Andrew Roberts, Matthias Hoenisch, Ewan Halliday, Jaxson Fitzsimmons, Simon Kischuk, Ben Kischuk, Ljubi Tokic, Tomas Tokic and Jakov Tokic.

The second Capital Cup is scheduled for July 19-21.