THE Men’s final of the RTC Championships closed with the biggest twist of the tournament when the unseeded Ronald Murray dashed the hopes of the Number 2 seed, Leyland Leacock, of being the first RTC Champion. According to a press release, the skills of Leacock were heightened at the beginning of the match while hitting the ball with clean surgical precision that awarded him a 3/1 lead.
This did not rattle Murray as he held his composure to quickly take back the break and return on serve. The two matched each other to the point of 5-5 until Murray took the window of opportunity on Leacock’s serve to break and clinch the opening set.
Excellent volleying by Leacock built up his confidence at the net. This did not deter Murray to produce some incredible passing shots. The scoreboard pressure mounted on Leacock in the second set at 5-4 to Murray. He found himself serving to stay in the match and a focused Murray glared across the net with the hunger to win.
Silence pervaded the atmosphere with the toss of the ball. Spectators held their breath, as they riveted their gaze on the deadly forehand passing shot which blasted past Leacock at the net to make Murray champion. The gathering stood and cheered the two players.
The second semi-finals highlighted the hard work Carol Humphrey put in throughout the years to still have the ability to ruffle the feathers of young Afruica Gentle.
Humphrey appeared unsettled on the court and slid several times at the beginning of the match. The young Gentle was not gentle with the ball and performed in better form than a year ago in her encounter with the veteran.
In the first set, Humphrey was a casualty at the hands of the young Gentle. The second set started with the same momentum when Gentle took a 3-0 lead. At this point Humphrey held her first game and banished the score from her thoughts.
She played more freely and marshalled better points with longer rallies. She swept the match in straight sets 6-1, 6-4 to set up a final against Cristy Campbell. This is the first meeting of the two. Number two seed, Gentle the big hitter will have to work hard against one of the best ladies defenders – Campbell.