St Lucian clinches CITI-Tranquil title

It was the St Lucian Alberton Richelieu this time who soundly whipped Tobago-born Yohansey Williams in straight sets 6-0, 6-1 yesterday. The seventh seed has been in fine form throughout the tournament and grabbed a 1-0 lead in the opening set with some aggressive shots to break Williams serve.

And the St Lucian signalled his intent with a blistering ace down the middle to extend his lead to 2-0 and wasted not time as he raced to a 6-0 win in the first set.

Williams finally found a bit of rhythm as he levelled the game at 1-1 in the second set after failing to hold serve but there was to be no let up from Richelieu who maintained his high standard of play to continue his dominance of the Tobagonian.

Williams’ poor showing in the final was summed up when after a fantastic backhand rally with Richelieu, the St Lucian produced a deft cut which the advancing Williams had all the time to hit but apparently indecisive as to where or how to hit the ball, he missed it completely.

And though he looked much better in the second set, the young Tobagonian was brushed aside 6-1 in the set to give Richelieu the victory and the $4000 first prize in the second one-sided final in as many days. The St Lucian expressed satisfaction with the win after being inactive for several months while preoccupied with school.

The last foreigner to win the tournament was Ryan Moseley of Barbados in 2005. And Athelstan Phillips captured the Men’s Plate final with a 2-1 victory over Mark Balgobin. Phillips took the first set 6-4 but Balgobin fought back to equalise with a 5-7 win but Phillips cruised to 6-1 in the deciding set to win the Plate.

Meanwhile, Kaeleigh De Silva won the Women’s Plate final after defeating Jazz Morgan in straight sets 6-4, 6-4.

The sibling duo, Ivor and Dayna Grazette dismissed Luke De Caires and Olivia Mitchell in the Mixed Doubles first round 6-1, 6-0 while Larry Yearwood teamed up with Carlista Mohammed to defeat Dion Auguste and Analisa Hamel-Smith 6-1, 6-0.

Earlier Auguste paired with Keegan De Silva to hammer Jabrille Kabli and Tomas Sandor in the Men’s Doubles while Nicholas Sellier partnered Duncan Smart to get past their first round opponents Jerome Branker and Duane Mitchell in straight sets 7-6 (6), 6-2. Other results: MEN’S DOUBLES - Collin Auguste and Kyle Hannays def Bevon Burris and Blair Burris 6-1, 6-2, Ryan Abraham and Aaron Leung def John Furlonge and Arnold Viarruel w/o, Denzil Clement and Ronald Robinson def Jeremy Braithwaite and Jonathan Lanser 6-2, 6-2, Reyne Hospedales and Adisa Idemudia def Michael Pemberton and Jason Thompson 6-2, 6-4.