Tennis girls hail ‘awesome gold’

The Bermuda female tennis team took gold at the Island Games against Menorca on Monday night, with the hosts winning both their singles matches to render the doubles rubber irrelevant.

Tyler Smith completed a straight sets win over Laura Moreno, with the first set strongly contested before Smith edged it 7-5.

It left both competitors exhausted but Smith dealt with the heat the best, sailing through the second set 6-0.

Smith told the Bermuda Sun: “I thought I played really well. I was getting really tired and the heat was getting to me but I feel that despite that, I did really well.”

Erika Bove was second up for the Bermudian team. She battled hard against her opponent Sandra Moll through two excruciatingly long sets, but came out 7-5, 7-5 winner.

The second set, in particular, was a test of character, with her opponent leading 4-3. But Bove battled back, winning two consecutive games to lead 5-4 and, with the home crowd cheering her on, Bove went on to take the set and secure the gold to a backdrop of chants of “BDA! BDA!” from the ecstatic fans. It meant the doubles game was registered as a walkover win for Bermuda.

Bove told the Sun: “I feel great. This is an honour for me to represent Bermuda and give them a gold medal. It was a tough match, but I’m glad that we just won it in two games.

“It was awesome. It felt awesome to have the support from the crowd, and the constant encouragement made it special.”