Hopmans had a surprise win against Rafters, 10 sets 110 games to six sets, 89 games.
Without Choppy there to marshall the troops, Hopmans jumped away to a commanding start winning all four doubles.
David Mills and Craig Parkinson are starting to find confidence after a few seasons out of the game.
Mills beat Mr Reliable, Chris Gore, in a titanic struggle while the younger Parkinson outlasted an out of form Warren Hards.
Old man Smith got home in a tie break against outstanding junior , Takudzwa Maidza.
Juniors Ben Homes and Lachlan Jeffries had good wins in their singles.
Winners for Rafters were Julie Shirley, Damien Hanneman and the reliable Elizabeth Ward, all winning two sets.
Rafters won three of the reverse doubles, but Hopmans had already started celebrating.
Last year's premiers Courts took on Stolles, last year's runner up in a grand final rematch.
The first four doubles were hard fought with two tie breakers played.
Results for the breakers were shared one all, with Stolles pairing off McLeod and Krawczyk, lasting the distance against the highly rated pairing of B Stringer and Maitland, seven to three in the tie breakers.
Reversing the ledger were Ferreria and T Stringer, winning seven to two in a tie breaker against the Rhind brothers Darren and Jordan for Courts.
Going into the singles, Stolles held a three to one lead and managed to continue to push the advantage.
At the end of the singles, Stolles' lead had blown out to eight to four.
Singles wins to B Stringer, S Maitland and S Ferreria kept Courts in the hunt with a sum change of pegging back the score for an eight all draw.
Unfortunately, the reverse doubles did not go Courts' way, with the combination of Gray and Genahl winning for Stolles and snuffing out a Courts comeback.
Stolles won the day 10 sets, 95 games to Courts six sets, 79 games.
Stolles was well served by Gray, Sarret, Genahl and Telfer all winning their three matches and continuing their good form.
After five rounds, Stolles continues to hold onto and cement its position into the top two, seeking retribution for past opportunities to win the premiership.
Newcombes fought out an absolute thriller against Rosewalls, with the match going down to the last doubles, and Newcombes prevailing on sets.
Rosewalls had more games 100 to Newcombes 88, but Newcombes had more sets - nine to seven.
The match also had three tie breakers, with Newcombes winning two of them, so the match could have gone either way.
The first doubles started the day in the way it finished, going two apiece, with Newcombes winning the first two doubles in good tight games and Rosewalls winning the last two doubles comfortably.
The singles was probably where Newcombes won the match.
The two captains of each side (and good mates) Glenn Clayton and Mark Azzopardi fought out a great game, with Clayton just getting over the line in a tiebreaker.
With the warm conditions taking their toll, the game between Mat Smith and Chris Mills had a few breaks, with Smith prevailing in a top match.
The Vlachoulis cousins played each other in another top match, with Matt just outlasting Greg in another tiebreaker.
Munya Maidza had his first win in singles in another tiebreaker against John Lawson, making up for losing a couple of tie breakers earlier in the year.
Young juniors Joey Webster and Tayla Anninos had a good match, with Webster just getting over the line.
The last four doubles went two apiece.
Players of the day were Mat Smith, Newcombes' Bob Hamlyn and young Rosewalls junior Joey Webster, winning all their matches.
Results
Hopmans 10 sets, 110 games defeated Rafters six sets, 89 games.
Singles: D Mills d C Gore 7-5; C Parkinson d W Hards 7-1; A Smith d T Maidza 7-6; G Smith lost to J Shirley 5-7; B Homes d B Symons 7-4; J Homes lost to D Hanneman 4-7; D Giles lost to E Ward 5-7; L Jeffries d N Chopin 7-2.
Doubles: D Mills/ C Parkinson d C Gore/ W Hards 9-5; A Smith/ G Smith d T Maidza/ J Shirley 9-5; B Homes/ J Homes d B Symons/ D Hannemann 9-7; D Giles/ L Jeffries d E Ward/ N Chopin 9-2.
D Mills/ B Homes d C Gore/ B Symons 9-4; C Parkinson/ J Homes lost to W Hards/ D Hannemann 6-9; A Smith/ D Giles lost to T Maidza/E Ward 4-9; G Smith/ L Jeffries lost to J Shirley/ N Chopin 6-9.
Stolles 10 sets, 95 games d Courts six sets, 79 games.
Singles: C McLeod lost to B Stringer 1-7; B Krawczyk lost to S Maitland 0-7; A Gray d N Sichler 7-4; A Sarret d J Holland 7-2; D Rhind d S Ferreria 7-3; J Rhind d T Stringer 7-3; R Genahl d J Virgo 7-3; T Telfer d A Castle 7-2.
Doubles: C McLeod/ B Krawczyk d B Stringer/ S Maitland 9-8; A Gray/ A Sarret d N Sichler/ J Holland 9-3; D Rhind/ J Rhind lost to S Ferreria/T Stringer 8-9; R Genahl/ T Telfer d J Virgo/ A Castle 9-2; C McLeod/ D Rhind lost to B Stringer/ T Stringer 1-9; B Krawczyk/ J Rhind lost to S Maitland/ S Ferreria 4-9; A Gray/ R Genahl d N Sichler/ J Virgo 9-2; A Sarret/ T Telfer d J Holland/A Castle 9-2.
Newcombes nine sets, 88 games d Rosewalls seven sets, 100 games.
Singles: M Azzopardi lost to G Clayton 6-7; M Smith d C Mills 7-5; G Utting d D Barnard 7-5; R Hamlyn d D Chapman 7-2; M Vlachoulis d G Vlachoulis 7-5; T Wagner lost to R McAlister 3-7; T Anninos lost to J Webster 3-7; M Maidza d J Lawson 7-6.
Doubles: M Azzopardi/ M Smith d G Clayton/ C Mills 9-7; G Utting/R Hamlyn d D Barnard/ D Chapman 9-6; M Vlachoulis/ T Wagner lost to G Vlachoulis/ R McAlister 2-9; T Anninos/ M Maidza lost to J Webster/ J Lawson 0-9; M Azzopardi/ M Vlachoulis lost to G Clayton/ G Vlachoulis 0-9; M Smith/ T Wagner d C Mills/ R McAlister 9-4; G Utting/T Anninos lost to D Barnard/ J Webster 3-9; R Hamlyn/ M Maidza d D Chapman/ J Lawson 9-2.
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