GUYANA’S Aretta Dey prevailed over her doubles partner and compatriot Nicola Ramdyhan — who won the Girls’ Under-12 Coca Cola tournament in St Lucia in 2009 — 7-6, 6-3, to become Guyana’s second-ever Champion at an International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior tournament, held in St Vincent and the Grenadines. The pair had earlier won the Girls’ Under- 14 Doubles title and Dey’s achievement capped a much-improved performance by the Guyanese Junior team as they came away with two wins and a runner-up position in the International Event which attracted players from around the world.
Guyana’s Junior team was coached by ITF Level 2 coach Shelly Ramdyhan who has guided many juniors through the Schools Tennis Initiative Programme after which talented players are pinpointed for development in the Junior squads.
In the match, Dey’s consistency ended up being the difference in the match as she capitalised on Ramdyhan’s mistakes to pull off the straight set win.
The first set was tied at 6-6 but Dey convincingly won the tie-break 7-0 before wrapping up the second set 6-3 to claim her first-ever international title despite being an unseeded player.
Dey had dismissed second seed Jamie Lewis (BAR) 6-2, 6-3 in the semi-finals before taking out the first seed Ramdyhan in the finals to cap a remarkable performance.
The 10-member team will return to Guyana today and will go straight into action when the Nigel’s Junior Classic tournament starts next Tuesday.