It’s great news from the first of this summer’s ITF tournaments that three out of the four titles in Wellington have gone to New Zealanders. Monique Barry got the ball rolling when she and her Dutch partner Merel Hoedt got the hoped-for result as top seeds by winning the women’s doubles final on Saturday from second seeds Shiho Akita and Nanari Katsumi, and that was followed by the all-Kiwi second-seeded team of Isaac Becroft and Ajeet Rai beating another Kiwi in Anton Shepp in the men’s doubles final.
Not only that, but Shepp’s partner Tai Sach made it to the singles final as well, only to be beaten in straight sets by Rai, who was able to celebrate winning both titles at the same tournament for the very first time. It’s his second singles crown in Wellington, having beaten James Watt at the same venue in 2022. That match, however, had to be played indoors due to rain.