Yukon tennis players showcase doubles skills in Juneau

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The Tennis Yukon Association continued to build on what has turned into a special relationship with the community of Juneau this past weekend at the Back to School Doubles tournament.
Eight Whitehorse players made the trip to the Alaskan capital for the indoor competition, which was held from Friday to Sunday at the Juneau Racket Club.
“It was really fun,” said Tennis Yukon Association president Stacy Lewis. “I think this is a good relationship. It’s the best we can do and it’s going well, so it’s really good.”
The Whitehorse participants included Ryan Lane, 15; Sophia Flather, 15; Kieran Halliday, 12; Keith Halliday, Stacy Lewis; Aline Halliday, 11; Madeline Cannings, 11; and Ann MacDonald. 
The tournament was open to both junior as well as adult players and it featured five main categories of competition. Some of the division included just a straight round robin, while others had a playoff round.
All of the junior matches at the doubles tournament used an eight game pro set format to determine a winner, however, the adult divisions included the more traditional best two out of three sets.
One of the special things about the Back to School tournament was that it gave participating juniors the option of pairing up with older players in the adult divisions, which all of the Yukoners took advantage of.
Three Yukoners competed in the men’s doubles division two. Despite playing well, Ryan Lane, along with Juneau teammate Mike McClellan ended up dropping both of their matches.
Keith and Kieran also paired up in the men’s category, which included a second match marathon that unfortunately finished with their second loss. The two dropped a real heartbreaker by the close score of 7-5, 5-7, 10-8.
Lewis and Flather had an outstanding showing in the women’s doubles division two draw, which was run with a round robin format.

The two were undefeated with a chance to win the draw in their final match on Sunday.

Sunday’s contest was against the only other undefeated team in the division and despite giving it their all, the Yukon pair ended up losing the match to finish with a record of 2-1.
MacDonald, who also played in the women’s division with Juneau player Lisa Scott finished with a record of 0-3. 
The mixed doubles division two featured the teams of Keith and Flather, while Kieran and Lewis played together and Lane teamed up with a different Juneau player in each of his games.
Keith and Flather ended up winning their first match 6-2, 6-3, but lost their second and final contest in the draw.
Kieran and Lewis lost their first match (6-4, 6-3), but rebounded to win their second match against Ryan and his partner (6-3, 6-2).
Kieran and Lane showed off their skills in the junior doubles advanced division, dominating their first game by the score of 8-1. The two followed up the win with a close 8-7 victory, which qualified them for the semi-finals.
Despite coming close, they ended up losing the third match by the score of 6-8 to finish with a record of 2-1.
Flather also competed in the junior advanced category, pairing up with a Juneau player, Forrest Wilcox for two games. The team finished with one win and one loss. 
Aline and Cannings made up one of the teams in the junior beginners draw, but were unable to win any of their games.
Cannings and Lewis made a great team in the junior adult division, finishing with a perfect 2-0 record. MacDonald and Aline lost their only match in the same category.
Besides the game experience, the Yukon juniors took advantage of a couple of clinics that were taught by a visiting tennis pro from Florida.
The advanced clinic was held for two hours on Friday and focused on a more aggressive and power-driven style of play.
The beginner clinic included two one-hour sessions on both Friday as well as Saturday and devoted more towards making proper contact.
Lewis said she was pleased with how the Yukon juniors played at the tournament.
“I think they reaped the benefits of working on their serving so much,” she said.

“They were very competitive because they were able to serve well and win their service games and stay in the matches with their serving. So that was nice when you see the benefit of something you have worked on and it getting better.”
The Tennis Yukon Association hopes to compete in another Juneau hosted event, titled the Fall Tennis Tournament, which is being held Nov. 13-16. 
The organization is also moving forward with plans for an indoor version of the Capital Cup in Juneau, which might be held the weekend of Feb. 20-22. The previous Capital Cup was held in Whitehorse in July and was won by Team Juneau.