Good start for tennis players

The Bermuda tennis team commenced play on Monday. The tournament organizers had set a challenging schedule of play due to the wet weather conditions and a pessimistic forecast for the week.

Na’im Azhar led the team off in the first match and started slowly. He quickly found himself down 1-4 but started to play more consistently, reading his opponents game better and clawed back the first set to 4-5.

He took a conservative approach to the deciding game in the first set and fell 4-6 to his Bahamian opponent. The second set was much closer but Rolle from the Bahamas found enough to take the second set 7-5 and the match. Azhar played extremely well after his slow start against a more highly ranked opponent.

 Gavin Manders enjoyed a slightly more comfortable time against his opponent from St. Vincent winning 6-0, 6-2. Manders was clearly the more experienced player and was troubled only briefly by Tash. Manders faces the #2 seed in the tournament next in the form of Daniel Garza from Mexico.

 Caitlin Gordon was the first of the Bermuda Ladies on court against another opponent from St Vincent, Larissa Williams. Gordon also enjoyed a comfortable victory and displayed a solid game giving her opponent few opportunities to get into the match. The score was 6-0, 6-2.

Gordon plays the #6 seed in the next round also from Mexico.

 Jacky Lambert overcame Alyssa Fuentes from Barbados in a spirited match with both women exchanging powerful groundstrokes. Lambert was the more consistent of the two and triumphed  6-4,6-4.

 David Thomas and Neal Towlson took on a strong pair from the Bahamas. The first set found the Bermuda men struggling to put together consistent volleys despite serving well.

The second set saw the Bermuda pair move up a gear and they found themselves up 5-2 after great play by both players. Despite holding a set point at 5-2 the pair allowed the Bahamians to get back in the match and eventually went down -0-6, 4-6. Again the match was characterized by a high standard of play and despite the loss. Thomas and Towlson showed great hands at the net and impressive serving.

 The ladies returned to the court next after a rain delay, which took approximately two hours out of the schedule. Caitlin Gordon and Tara Lambert overcame the Barbados duo of Alyssa Fuentes and Alex Ifill 6-4, 6-4. The match was characterized on both sides by in consistent serving but the Bermuda pair had a significant edge in returning serve and in the doubles strategy. Despite facing a number of no ad tie break points the Bermuda women proved too strong for their regional opponents.

 The last match of the day for Bermuda was mixed doubles with Gavin Manders and Jacky Lambert taking on Alejandro Bucaro and Kirsten Weedon from Guatemala. The Bermuda pair made an encouraging start against the more highly rated Guatemalan pairing. Unfortunately Manders appeared to suffer a muscle pull in his racquet shoulder, which hampered the Bermuda pair’s ability to compete at their maximum ability. They lost 3-6,2-6.