THE first Assuria Classic Open Tennis Tournament rolled off with six matches at the National Racquet Centre on Camp Street over the weekend and will last for two weeks with competition in five categories.The tournament has attracted Guyana’s top players and fresh faces on the tournament circuit.

According to a Guyana Tennis Association (GTA) release, Daniel Razick who won the Novice Trophy Stall 2014 doubles defeated Akeem Bailey 6-1 in the Novice Medley Singles, while Fiona Bushell also had a 6-1 win over fellow club member Patricia Hope in the same category.
The Men’s Open had wins by Hemant Dalip against Malik Williams 6-1, 6-0 and the seasoned Benjettan Osborne took a comfortable 6-0, 6-1 win against Jeevan Dalip who played well in his first competition.
Jason Andrews and Sandeep Chand played in the main game of the day amid much excitement and buzz, since the two old rivals never fail to bring their best game.
Chand opened and held serve in the opening set with Andrews doing the same, followed by both trading a break to level the score at 2. Andrews took the advantage of breaking Chand to gain a substantial lead of 5-2 and served for the set and eventually secured the set at 6-3. Both players served well, hitting a high percentage of first serves but Andrews’ consistency and approaches at the net gave him the edge over Chand.
According to the release, the second set started with a bang when Andrews powered the first ace of the match to take the first game which seem to put him in overdrive.
He then took a 4-1 lead over Chand but with an ace to close his serve game brought the score to 2-4. Andrews took a 5-2 lead and it seemed history would be repeated as in the first set. Chand took a medical time out after apparent leg cramps.
On serve, Andrews lost two match points after a dicey call made on the serve. Chand then mounted a comeback to force a tiebreak. Although the lighting was insufficient due to lack of court lights the two battled on where Andrews took a 4-1 lead but lost the following six points to drop the set to Chand at 6-7.
A visibly bothered Andrews then shook Chand’s hands and declared his retirement from the match.
The 3-6, 7-6(7-4) win by Chand sets up his next match against Harry Panday.
Other matches will continue during the week at the National Racquet Centre and the Le Resouvenir Tennis Club.