Yukon wins mixed doubles tennis division in Juneau

Photo submitted

Three Yukoners held their own at a tennis tournament in Juneau this past weekend.

The event was highlighted by Jan Polivka winning the mixed doubles open division.

Polivka, who is Tennis Yukon’s head coach, won the division at the Fall Doubles Tournament with Juneau partner Mimi Walker.

The team played in a round robin format, winning all of their matches to finish a perfect 3-0.

The other two Yukoners at the tournament included Kieran Halliday and Tennis Yukon’s president Stacy Lewis.

“Juneau was so excited to have somebody come in and be really good,” Lewis said about Polivka’s play. “They would all gather around and watch his matches and ask him when he is coming back. It was quite fun in that way too, certainly anybody is welcomed to enter a tournament, but from their perspective it’s exciting when somebody quite good comes and plays.”

Polivka and Walker had a tough first match in the mixed doubles open division, which forced the two into a tiebreaker they managed to win 8-6.

The team’s second match was against Annie Kincheloe and Bong Carabdang. After a tough first set, which Polivka and Walker narrowly won 7-5, the two buckled down and took the next set 6-3 to seal the victory.

The Yukon and Juneau team continued to improve at the tournament and concluded the mixed doubles open division with their most convincing victory, beating Diane Antaya and Art Dee 6-2 and 6-4. 

Polivka also teamed up with Halliday in the men’s doubles open division. The two had a tough draw in their first match, which was against Juneau’s number one ranked tennis player, Nathan Greeves and his partner Eric Hodson.

The Yukon duo got off on the right foot, winning the first set 6-4, but unfortunately couldn’t keep the momentum going. The two went on to lose a close second set 5-7 and then lost in the super tiebreaker 6-10.

In there next match, Polivka and Halliday took on the Juneau team of Greg Dostal and Ron Hohman. After losing the first set 4-6, the Yukoners rebounded and scored a decisive 6-2 victory in the second set.

However, once again the two would fall in the super tiebreaker, dropping it by a 5-10 score.

Lewis said Polivka had quite the following in Juneau that some people wondered if he would considered working there. She said that she is not worried about losing him to Juneau.

“It rained and rained for all four days,” she said. “It just never stopped, it was ridiculous. Jan is a big skier and so I know that his heart is here.”

Lewis played in the mixed doubles open division with Halliday. The two were placed in the consolation draw after they lost their first match up against Juneau’s Brett Kovach and Amber Bennett in two sets, 5-7 and 3-6.

The two didn’t let the loss get to them and were able to bounce back in a three set victory over SaraJean Fujioka and Don Greenberg. The final score was 6-1, 1-6 and 10-1.

Halliday, who will be one of Yukon’s three junior tennis players at the 2009 Canada Summer Games, got lots of playing experience in Juneau, which included multiple singles matches against some of the local high school students last Thursday and Friday.

“Their high school players played a pretty high level,” Lewis said. “They are playing at nearly college level tennis, so that was really good experience for Kieran.”

She said the experience in Juneau really benefited him as a tennis player.

“We have the three juniors and they are playing each other quite a lot and they are getting really used to each other. To watch him try to figure out how to handle, when he didn’t know the other player or when he started to get behind and how to come back or if he was ahead how to not get too comfortable, but to stay focussed. It was just a real reminder to us why it is so important to get out there and actually compete. You just can’t simulate all of the tension and all of the mental games that go on in a match.”

Juneau will also play host to the Capital Cup tennis tournament, which plans are underway to hold it from Feb. 27 to Mar. 1.

The tournament is a competition between Juneau and Whitehorse, which was won this past summer by Alaskan capital. There is no entry fee to take part in the Capital Cup, but individuals would have to cover their own travel and accommodation expenses.

Lewis said she hopes to have more than 10 Whitehorse tennis players signed up to play in the Capital Cup.

“It was pretty good and I think we will maybe have more people playing this time,” she said. “Juneau brought 10 people last summer, but maybe if we take a few more than that then we can get some more points.”

Tennis Yukon also offers weekday and Sunday lessons at Yukon College, which are held from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. through the week and between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Sundays.

Those interested in signing up for lessons or participating in the Capital Cup can contact Tennis Yukon at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or by phoning Lewis at 334.8858.