Ronald Murray and Fiona Bushell prevailed in the mixed doubles category of the Trophy Stall lawn tennis finals Sunday afternoon at the Le Ressouvenir Tennis Court.
The pair defeated national and Caribbean squash champion Nicolette Fernandes and her squash mate and race car driver Kristian Jeffrey.
Watched by a largely supportive crowd, the uber-fit and energetic Fernandes and Jeffrey tried everything but could not match the big-serving and superior net-play of their opponents.
Murray, in particular, with his heavy spin serves, was more than a handful for the newcomers to tennis and helped to put away the first set 6-3.
The eventual champs maintained their intensity and easily wrapped up the second set 6-1 despite some entertaining play from Fernandes in particular who had the energy to spare despite the sweltering Sunday afternoon heat.
For Murray, it was his second title in two days after he picked up the men’s Over 35 doubles title while teaming up with Leyland Leacock.
The pair overcame a spirited effort from former winners Sandeep Chand and Andre Lopes as each player held serve in the first set up to 5-all before a single service break determined the outcome at 7-5. Good serving and volleying by Murray and Leacock helped the pair secure the title with an easier 6-2 scoreline as their opponents also had problems with their big serves.
Both teams had previously scored two wins apiece in the round-robin format for the Over 35 category. In third place was Vladimir Permyakov and Navinith Hedge who turned back the challenge of Steve David Longe and Rafael Nunez in a competitive match 6-4, 7-5.
In the other matches played over the weekend, Lopes and Chand booked spots in the men’s doubles final, overcoming Javed Khan and Kevin Mattai 6-1, 6-2 whilst in the other semi-final Leacock teamed up with top junior Jordan Beaton to overcome the talented pair of 16-year-olds Joshua Kalekeyzi and Viraj Sharma 6-2, 6-1.
Kalekeyzi and Sharma had earlier accounted for David Longe and Rafael Nunez 6-3, 6-3 in their quarterfinal match whilst Khan and Mattai defeated the father and son pairing of Surendra and Adesh Khayyam.
The men’s doubles final will be played at the Le Ressouvenir Tennis Courts at 7:00pm this evening and will feature Leacock and Beaton going up against Lopes and Chand.
