Danny Dossetor and Jane Haeusler each won the singles titles then teamed up to win mixed doubles. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
Griffith rice farmer Danny Dossetor has won his 13th men’s single title at the MIA Open, a tournament spiced up by teacher Lachlan Date’s tactic of offering his opponents salami and wine mid-set to put them off.
Dossetor won the final against Canberra’s Ewan Duff in two sets that were shortened to first-to-four because of rain.
“It was a lucky 13th for me. I think my opponent was a bit sick but I played pretty well. The shorter sets helped the older players,” he said.
Barellan’s Jane Haeusler won her third consecutive title in her first outing after hip surgery in January.
“In the singles, I was shocking – I could not run. In the second set it looked like I wasn’t playing because I couldn’t run, but I was able to get up in the super tiebreak,” she said.
Haeusler and Dossetor then teamed up to win the Open’s mixed doubles. Dossetor also won the Open’s men’s doubles with Griffith teacher Andrew Noad.
The MIA Open is one of Australia’s longest continuing sporting events, held every year since 1910. It attracts top players and emerging talent from regional Victoria, NSW and the ACT. A teenage Nick Kyrgios played in the tournament in 2009 and 2010, losing in the semi-finals both times.
The most unsual tactic over the 2025 edition occurred in a doubles match, when Griffith player Lachlan Date offered his opponents fortified McWilliam Tawny wine and homemade salami when down 3-0.
Date was playing with father Warwick Date against veteran coaches Phil Shanahan and Cheryl Rawle, in the novelty event called the Centenary doubles, in which the partners’ combined age must exceed 100.
“I knew we were going to struggle against the super coaches so I had to think of something to do mid-set to put them off their game,” Date said.
Lachlan Date, Cheryl Rawle, Warwick Date and Phil Shanahan enjoy a mid-set tawny. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
The biggest surprise of the tournament came from unseeded Melba 16-year-old Gabrielle Yeung, who powered her way to the women’s open final. She beat fellow Canberran rising star Annabelle Snow in the quarter-finals before knocking out second seed Chelsea Evans in the semis and taking Haeusler to a super tiebreak in the final.
Haeusler has played in International Tennis Federation (ITF) pro-tour tournaments in India and New Zealand, so the American-born Yeung was happy with the result.
“I’m surprised I got so close,” Yeung said.
“I want to go back to the US for college [and a tennis scholarship], after proving that I can get a set off an ITF player like Jane, I think I can do it. If it doesn’t work out I’ll study to become a sports medicine doctor.”
Gabrielle Yeung wants to see more girls in the sport. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
Yeung has lived in Canberra for five years.
“I’m originally from Pennsylvania. My mum was a nurse; she was working in ED and often had to treat gunshot wounds … we moved to Canberra because it was safer.”
Males outnumbered females at the Griffith tournament four to one, with some women’s events cancelled due to lack of entries. This is something Yeung wants to address.
“I’ve done a program to get girls active in tennis and I’ve done some talks to try and encourage them to play. I’m part of the ACT juniors board and we are working hard on getting more girls involved in the game … I’d advise them to give it a try, you might like it, but if you don’t you can always try another sport.”
Also flying the flag for women’s tennis was 13-year-old Weston Creek girl Adele Mewett, who made it to the final of the A grade ladies’ singles before losing to Albury’s Lara Meagher, the great grandniece of tennis great Margret Court.
“I’m pretty happy with how I played. My favourite player is Aryna Sabalenka and I model my game on her baselining style,” Ms Mewett said.
Griffith’s Nirvair Singh and Mia Noad, aged 11, also shone in an adults event, winning the B grade men’s singles and C grade ladies’ singles respectively.
