TOP seeds Maddison Inglis and Alex Bolt proved why they hold those positions with dominant performances to claim Mildura International Tennis Pro Tour titles.
Neither singles number one seed dropped a set across the week at Mildura Lawn Tennis Club as both finals were wrapped up within 90 minutes on Sunday.
Inglis, who impressed upon making the third round of the Australian Open in January, proved too strong for 21-year-old Swiss-Aussie Tina Nadine Smith, flying through the second set to claim a 6-4, 6-1 victory.
Bolt, meanwhile, put on a dynamite performance against old mate and 2015 Mildura champion Luke Saville, thumping eight aces on the way to a 6-2, 6-2 win.
On the comeback trail following some time off last year to recover from injuries, Inglis said her week in Mildura could not have gone better.
“It’s funny how some weeks go your way, but I don’t take playing on the last day of the tournament for granted,” she said.
“It’s always special and especially after two months off with injuries … you have some days where you wonder if it’s worth getting back and playing, so to come out and have a week like this has been amazing.
“It’s great motivation and proves that my level is there to keep competing. I know it’s not going to go like that all the time but I’m going to enjoy today.”
The 26-year-old from Perth classes grass courts as her favourite surface, something she took advantage of in Sunraysia.
“We’re so lucky to have Mildura and Swan Hill, and in the middle of the year if I can get into the grass court tournaments in the UK, I’m there,” she said.
“Growing up in Perth we played so often on grass so I think I’m used to it and my game suits it.”
Bolt began his final in perfect fashion by breaking Saville’s serve, and it got better from there for the 31-year-old.
The left-hander from Murray Bridge broke through for his first tournament victory of the year after coming up short in finals in Burnie and Traralgon.
“It’s been a great week for me, I was fortunate to play my best tennis in the final against a good friend of mine and it’s good to hold the trophy at the end of the day,” he said.
“‘Sav’ is a world class grass courter so I knew I had to bring my best and was able to execute some of that.
“I thought it was going to be a bit softer and damper than what it was following the overnight rain but it played very true and good, so no complaints about that.
“I’ve been playing a lot of tennis this year and it’s just reward for effort.”
Inglis made the final after defeating Japanese seventh seed Sakura Hosogi 6-1, 6-2 in Saturday’s semi, while Smith had a tougher fight and had to come from behind in the second set tie-break to win 7-5, 7-6 against Gabriella Da Silva Fick.
Bolt defeated sixth seed Blake Ellis in straight sets, however both went to a tie-breaker as the top seed won 7-6, 7-6, while Saville endured a three-hour marathon against third seed James McCabe, both players holding match points before the former won the final set tie-break 6-4, 6-7, 7-6.
It wasn’t all bad news for Ellis on Saturday as he and partner Josh Charlton secured the doubles title in three sets over Aussie Matt Hulme and Kiwi James Watt 6-4, 7-6, 10-4.
In women’s doubles, Tahlia Kokkinis and Alicia Smith earned the title in a final set tie-break over fourth seeded team Punnin Kovapitukted (Thailand) and Jia-Jing Lu (China) 5-7, 6-2, 10-7.
The Pro Tour circuit rolls on as players head to Swan Hill this week.
