It was fitting that the men’s doubles final at Papamoa should be between the top two pairs, with top seeds Jesse Delaney and Emile Hudd facing the New Zealand combination of Ajeet Rai and Anton Shepp. Rai and Delaney served first for their respective teams, and both held comfortably before Delaney hit a beautiful forehand return down the singles sideline off Shepp.
Rai hit a lovely cross-court backhand volley to earn a game point, but conceded the first deuce of the afternoon when his next forehand volley went just too far. Delaney safely returned the deciding point, but a cross-court backhand into the net from Shepp gave away the first break of serve. Hudd hit a beautiful cross-court backhand lob to give himself a game point, but blew that chance when he ended a good rally with a backhand volley that went over the baseline. His partner showed him how the shot should have been played when he won the great rally on the deciding point, and that hold consolidated their lead.
Shepp started Rai’s second game with a beautiful cross-court backhand volley, and Hudd added a lovely backhand return down the tramlines before Delaney’s final return of serve went long. Delaney then finished his own game with a beautiful forehand winner down the tramlines before Shepp hit the shot of the match, a wonderful cross-court backhand winner into the tramlines. Unfortunately that was the only point he won in the game, Delaney completing another break with an overhead backhand volley.
That left Hudd serving for the set, but Rai and Shepp started with gorgeous backhand returns before landing forehands just outside the lines. A cross-court forehand volley from Hudd to end a good rally gave him a set point, and he forced Shepp into a return error to close it out after 25 minutes.
Rai’s only success in the opening game of the second set came from a poor forehand return by Hudd, with Delaney then holding comfortably to consolidate the break. That second game contained the best rally in the match, a fantastic ten shot exchange that with a winning overhead volley from Shepp, who held safely in turn.
Hudd did the same, but Rai was in trouble again when a forced error from Shepp took the score to 15-40. This time Rai’s serve really clicked, and he forced three return errors in a row to win the game. Delaney then had a straightforward hold before hitting a beautiful cross-court backhand winner off Shepp. He got aced for his pains on the next point, but Hudd hit a beautiful backhand return through the middle of the court before Shepp double faulted to give away a second break.
This time Hudd would be serving for the title, and Delaney brought up three Championship points when he hit a nice soft backhand volley at the net. He hit the winning volley as well, steering a forehand into the left tramline to complete a comprehensive victory after just 50 minutes. The final score was 6-2, 6-2.