Club president Greg Sheppard said all the tournament games were tight matches.
"Isaac just ground him [Klintcharov] down and got him in the end.
"It was a really good final."
Perennial Te Anau contestant Klintcharov, who had played most of the year in Australia, had to fight particularly hard for his first-round win.
"It’s always tough playing the first round of any tournament because you’re never really going to be playing your best.
"So you’ve got to make sure your worst is good enough."
Other tournament curve balls included Jack Loutit, who was expected reach the finals, but was knocked out of contention in the first round by Anton Shepp.
Klintcharov believed the Loutit "upset" had changed crowd expectations as well as his own.
He was just taking it match by match, Klintcharov said.
A cancelled New Plymouth flight thwarted Ajeet Rai’s opportunity to play at the invitational.
Rai’s absence opened a golden opportunity for his last-minute replacement, Harry Pugh.
Mr Sheppard said Pugh, who was in Wanaka at the time, was phoned to replace the invitational’s top seeded player.
"So he just got in the car and drove over."
Wellington-based Pugh, New Zealand’s 2023 male tennis junior of the year, had been patiently waiting in the wings hoping for an opportunity to make his debut at the tournament.
Mr Sheppard said an alternative tournament invitation resulted in 2023 winner Kiranpal Pannu dropping out of the Te Anau invitational.
"It was a big decision for him."
A back injury also forced James Watt to reluctantly decline the invitation as well.
Other players vying for the $8000 first place prize were Finley Hall, Reece Falck and Corban Crowther.
Wet-weather preparations had been made inside the Fiordland Community Centre to keep the competition running if the forecast rain eventuated for the two-day tournament, but rain held off for both days.
While the grey, overcast skies threatened rain all day Saturday and Sunday, warm temperatures still prevailed.
"Every game has been really good and the crowd’s been happy.
"I hope everyone sticks around and has a feed [at the big barbecue]," Mr Sheppard said.
— Toni McDonald
