Tennis hopefuls braved the heat and arduous sunlight to participate in the annual Labour Day Tournament at Tatura Lawn Tennis Club at the weekend.
Under scorching adversity, the players took to the lush grass courts for singles action on Saturday, followed by the doubles brackets on Sunday.
Labour Day Monday had mixed doubles action to wrap up the three-day spectacle.
Beyond the standard fare, however, there was a side challenge known as Wooden Racquet Singles, where participants donned retro-themed attire for a lighter type of competition.
The informalities were a big selling point, with costumes in vogue for the sweltering Sunday night festivities.
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Lining it up: Greg Hassett goes to serve. Photo by Megan FisherImage 2 of 9
Ready to pounce: Ian Robson receives serve. Photo by Megan FisherImage 3 of 9
Lying in wait: Balmira Rigoli prepares herself. Photo by Megan FisherImage 4 of 9
Down and away: Lorenzo Rigoli fires off a serve. Photo by Megan FisherImage 5 of 9
Watching closely: Kaitlin Ferris awaiting the serve. Photo by Megan FisherImage 6 of 9
Got under it: Lotta Groenwald fires off an aerial ball. Photo by Megan FisherImage 7 of 9
Observers: Crowd seeking shade from the Tatura sun. Photo by Megan FisherImage 8 of 9
All in readiness: Annalise Wright in her service motion. Photo by Megan FisherImage 9 of 9
With the heat: Kayden McKeown steadies to serve. Photo by Megan FisherClub president Royden James expressed pride and relief at the tournament’s success, given several hurdles put in the way.
"The tournament was very successful. We had record entries and had to close them on Tuesday because we couldn’t take any more,” James said.
"Despite the weather, we were able to complete all our matches, and the atmosphere around the club was wonderful.
“We’ve received many compliments from people all over Victoria, interstate and even overseas who took part.”
The heat alone was not the only potential obstacle, with other issues sprouting as a result.
"We arrived at the club rooms on Sunday, which was our big day, and the power was out,” James said.
“We couldn’t use our PA or the airconditioning, which was a major problem.
“Thank goodness we were up and running at full power within an hour or so."
Smooth sailing ensued once the focus returned to the courts and James had a theory about what made Tatura’s event such a hit.
"One of the reasons our tournament is popular is that it’s a round-robin, where many around the state are knockouts,” James said.
"You get a minimum of four to five sets here and we want to publicise that more in the future.
"Everything ran very smoothly after (the outage); it’s a tough gig to manage on the day, but we kept things moving all the time.”