Josh Tran wins Maurie Rowlands Trophy

The 24-year-old from Endeavour Hills said it was a great occasion to finally clinch his first Maurie Rowlands Trophy after numerous attempts.

‘‘It’s a pretty good feeling to grab my first trophy here after plenty of attempts,’’ Tran said.

‘‘I’ve come back and tried again and again for a number of years and I hadn’t made it past the semis until last year when I made the final and lost.

‘‘It was disappointing to lose last year, but it feels really good to get the win this year and finally get my name on the trophy.’’

The long sought-after win in the Shepparton Easter Tennis Tournament’s Open Men’s singles championship ranked high on Tran’s career achievements, which was made even sweeter gaining revenge on a former foe.

‘‘I haven’t got the longest list of achievements in my career, but this win is definitely in the top three,’’ he said.

‘‘I’ve played Matthew before and he chopped me up last time at Melbourne Pennant, so I had that at the front of my mind going in.

‘‘I just had to trust everything that has worked for me over the weekend and I’m just happy to get through it with a win.’’

One aspect of his game that Tran had trusted above all else to succeed was his serving, which ended up helping him claim a gruelling first set.

‘‘I’ve been doing a lot of work on my serve lately and on some grass court tactics, but overall my serve has been the main improvement since last year,’’ he said.

‘‘The first set was mainly a lot of serving from both ends and it came down to a couple of key points in the breaker that went my way with a few forehand shots that snuck past.

‘‘The second set was a similar story, but I just had that one game where I returned really well and that’s what sort of made the difference in the end.’’