04/10/2026
WOODS-CASEY DYNASTY LOADING AND SLEEVELESS IN SEATTLE
The original Star Wars trilogy, the Lord of the Rings, the first Top Gear hosts and Peter Siddle’s birthday hat trick. The best things come in 3’s and so it was for John Woods-Casey, channelling a September Will Ashcroft to storm to his third straight Tasmanian Open singles title.
Taking on hometown top seed, Oliver Pridmore, the match started tightly with the first three games hotly contested. Woods-Casey would then put his foot on the gas, aided by some uncharacteristic errors from Pridmore to run away with the set 6/2.
The second set was tighter, a lot tighter. Pridmore found some rhythm and Woods-Casey refused to give an inch as they played out some extended rallies much to the delight of the crowd. Unfortunately for the young amateur not even the home crowd support could will him over the line as Woods-Casey would take the set 6/5 and with it the match. A polished performance from the Melbourne professional.
The doubles final saw both singles combatants face each other again. Woods-Casey teamed up with Melbourne amateur Ben Hudson while Pridmore teamed up with fellow Hobartian amateur Pete Boyles, the pair donning matching sleeveless tops (yeah baby!).
Both sets were filled with intense and amazing rallies as both pairs retrieved and dug out balls that seemed impossible to pick up. Pridmore, more on the ball this match, did Pridmore things while Boyles remained solid up front. The winners started to flow and the errors started to mount for the Melbourne pair. This allowed the Hobart pair to take the match in straight sets, winning 6/3 6/4 and proving that sleeveless is cool.
Another highlight of the weekend was Ben Hudson wearing his Tassie Devils guernsey for the doubles semi finals, how good.
We’d like to thank the players who came down for the event and to the spectators who watched the weekend both in person and on the live stream.
