Afruica Gentle capitalized on her chance to win the Bakewell Junior Open Girls U18 title when she defeated Aretta Dey in three sets 4-6, 6-1, (10-5) on Sunday last at the President’s College Tennis Court Facility.
A release from the tennis association said that the match featured long rallies initially much to the advantage of Dey who was consistent and effective despite her long absence from training and competition. In the first set, the release said that the girls maintained a tie up to 4-4 when Dey broke Gentle and held serve to close out the set. Having lost the first set, Gentle showed no mercy and won the second set dropping only one game. In the deciding super tie-break, Gentle, the more experienced, was able to successfully counter Dey’s aggression and at 5-5, raced away to 10 points to win the set and title.
In the Girls U12, the promising Sarah Klautky made light work of newcomer Nathalie Ramdyhan in straight sets 4-1, 4-0 to win the title.
The Boys Under 14 semis featured the top 4 seeds with Mark McDonald defeating Keenan Persaud 2-4, 5-3, (10-6) and Heimraj Resaul defeating top seed Jordan Beaton in straight sets 5-3, 5-4(7-5).
McDonald will play Resaul in the Boys U14 finals at the GBTI tennis courts today at 4:00pm. Tomorrow, starting at 11:00am, Joshua Kalekyezi will play Viraj Sharma in the Boys U12 Finals. Afruica Gentle will play Shivani Persaud in the Girls U14 finals and McDonald will clash with Resaul again in the Boys U18 finals.
