Tennis Yukon players got out of the gym and onto the indoor courts for a tournament in Juneau this past weekend.

Thirteen Tennis Yukon players participated in the Fall Tennis Tournament hosted by the Alaska club in Juneau.

Any signs of weariness from the journey to Juneau were left behind in the dressing rooms as the players took to the courts to warm up on Friday afternoon.

Under the supervision of Tennis Yukon president and instructor, Stacy Lewis, and head coach and player, Jan Polivka, the Tennis Yukon players quickly adapted to the indoor court surface.

"Our older juniors have been here before, but the younger kids have not played on indoor courts before. Its an adjustment,” said Lewis. "The gym floor at home makes the ball skid rather than bounce.

"Also, they are playing full-court with regular balls, which is a big challenge for the younger juniors.”

As matches got under way on Friday, the Tennis Yukon players set their nerves aside and played some impressive games of tennis.

Tennis Yukon was represented in the Men's Upper Division Singles by Polivka and Petr Polivka. Jan went on to win the Men's Upper Division Singles final, while Petr won the Men's Upper Division Consolation Singles final.

In the Men's Mid-Division Singles, Tennis Yukon was represented by Kieran Halliday, Ryan Lane, Ben Pereira and Khang Pham.

The final was a very close contest between Lane and Juneau's Brian Vandor. However, the home player managed to get the upper hand, beating Lane 7-6, 6-4.

Halliday, Pereira, and Pham all faced a variety of playing styles that really tested them. They lost, but gained valuable experience.

"That's one benefit of playing in an adult draw,” said Lewis. "Usually in junior tennis they play other boys who hit every ball as hard as they possibly can. The adults play with more strategy and often a lot of consistency. I think its worth two or three junior matches for our juniors to play against these guys.”

Fresh from his singles success, Jan teamed up with his brother, Petr , to also win the Men's Upper Division Doubles.

"I play my best tennis here,” said Jan smiling, "I don't know what it is.”

Lane and Pereira fought hard in the Men's Mid-Division Doubles draw, but were defeated in the Consolation Doubles final by the more experienced Juneau players, Randy Hutte and Mike Stekoll. Both Hutte and Stekoll had earlier defeated the Whitehorse pairing of Halliday and Pham.

Representing Tennis Yukon in the Junior's Singles draw were Angus Clarke, Ingrid Janzen, Aline Halliday, Ewan Halliday, Alex Roberts, Andrew Roberts and Solstice Sarin-Toews. All seven players benefited greatly from the experience of playing in the tournament and put on a fine display of tennis. Roberts beat Juneau's Erica Hutte in the final.

The Junior's Doubles draw saw Clarke matched with Andrew Roberts, Janzen with Sarin-Toews, Ewan Halliday with Alex Roberts, and Aline Halliday with a junior player from Juneau. All the players worked well together to produce some wonderful tennis, and Aline Halliday and her Juneau partner won the final.

The weekend went well and was a great experience for all the players. As well as giving them valuable tournament practice, they also had the opportunity to spend much of their free time on the indoor courts fine-tuning their skills. In addition, it provided a great team-building opportunity for all the players and coaches.

Tennis Yukon has now headed back to gym for the rest of the winter, but is looking forward to a possible tournament back in Juneau in February .

Submitted by Stacy Lewis