A tennis player bellows, “Come On!” not only to get the crowd into the match but to signal that battle is on. It is an effort to dig deep within and play as if one’s life depended on it, as well as to drive fear into the heart of the person standing on the other side of the net.As much as tennis is one of the most physically demanding sports, it also requires strategy and mental toughness. The combination of these attributes makes champion tennis players.
The defending Men’s and Ladies’ champion of GBTI Open 2014 know these qualities are needed to be at the top of their game.
The GBTI Open can be described as the Grand Slam of tournaments locally and players from across the country flock the GBTI Bel Air Park court to contest in the battle of the year.
After the rain forced officials to reschedule matches, the sun came out on Saturday to kick start the opening matches of the GBTI 2015 Open tennis tournament.
The junior girls and boys were the first sets of contestants to hit the court. The junior boys played 9 matches, while the junior girls played 3 of their round robin matches. Later that afternoon, the novice players had their opportunity to battle it out on court.
Okenna Jackson in his first attempt at the title was defeated by Delon Fraser 6/2. Jamal Goodluck took a 6/2 win over Martin Campbell. In the Novice Medley Doubles, Jamal Goodluck and Tandy Primo took a win of 6/2 over the new partnership of Fiona Bushel and Martin Campbell.
The Assuria Novice Doubles runner ups Philbert Clark and Diana Bharrat lost to Joseph DeJonge and Fiona Bushel 6/1, 6/1 in the Mixed Doubles. While there was much fight on court 1 against Khawn Rodney and Romario Chanderballi on court 1. The match came down to the battle of will and consistency.
Rodney took the first set 6/1, however, he had to battle against the big serves of the left handed player, Chanderballi. The second set proved to be tougher with the game going into a tiebreaker.
It seems as if a third set loomed when Chanderballi held his nerve to level the tiebreaker at 4-4. Rodney noted at this point of the game that “I had to get my nerves under control”. He then secured the tiebreaker at 7/4 to defeat Chanderballi 6/1, 7/6(7/4).
Rodney made mention to the fastness of the court but thinks he will be better prepared to play his next opponent, Indian National Chethan Narayan, who is excellent in his ground strokes.
The highlight of the evening matches came from the unexpected surprise win from the two Under-14 players, Hemraj Resaul and Mark McDonald who dismissed the 18 year olds Benedict Sukra and Khalif Gobin in a nail biting match. They secured the win at 6/4, 7/6(7/2). In the men’s open, Stephen Bailey defeated Dominic Fraser 6/2, 6/0.
Matches will continue at the GBTI Recreational Centre in Bel Air Park this afternoon.