Mexican rebounds to win Digicel U18 tennis crown

The number one seed in the Singles division came from a set down to defeat the number seven ranked Bar Tzuf Botzer of Israel for his first crown. The Israeli had Nunez on the back foot from early and went on to take the first set 3-6. It was the first time in the tournament that Nunez was down a set but he rallied to get back into the match.

Nunez, ranked 360 places higher by the ITF, showed his class by edging his opponent 7-5 in the second set to send the match to three sets. The Mexican clinched the title with a comfortable 6-2 win in the deciding set. Nunez was on court again alongside Costa Rican’s Jose Pabli Gil to take on the Italian pair of Stefano Napolitano and Matteo Donati for the Boys Doubles title.

The Italians, seeded first, needed just two sets to beat their rivals and end Nunez’s dream of a double crown. Donati and Napolitano took a close first set 7-5 and secured the crown with a 6-3 in the second. The Girls division was decided on Friday with Austrian Christine Kandler beating Gaia Sanesi of Italy 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the Singles final. The Women’s Doubles crown went to the pair of Barbora Lazarova of Slovakia and Canada’s Emma Onila who got past Sweden’s Beatrice Cedermark and her partner Naomi Totka of Hungary 6-4, 6-3. TT’s Scott Lanser completed a remarkable double crown in the ITF Under-14 competition sponsored by Boomers. Lanser has been in sensational form this month, copping the Singles and Doubles divisions at back-to-back ITF tournaments in Barbados and then in Trinidad this week. His performances are excellent preparation for the Central America and Caribbean pre-qualifier for the World Junior Tennis Competition which will get underway on Monday at the Eddie Taylor courts.