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National champions advance
– Daly-Ramdyhan, Sue-Ho also win
National Ladies champion Carol Humphrey (foreground) shakes the hand of her opponent Aruna Ramrattan shortly after defeating her last Friday.
National champions Phillip Squires and Carol Humphrey coasted to easy wins as play in the Banks Masters Invitational Tennis Tournament opened on Friday evening, at the Pegasus Hotel Hardcourts.
Squires beat Leyland Leacock in straight sets, while Humphrey wasted little time in disposing Aruna Ramrattan, also in straight sets.
Also in winners’ row were former junior champion Ezra Sue-Ho, who created the first upset in the tournament when he simply dismantled the highly favoured Anthony Downes in straight sets, while former national champion Shelly Daly-Ramdyhan eventually held off a bold performance from junior champion Shawna Gentle, before prevailing in three sets.
In the Men’s Singles semi-finals, Phillip Squires kept the upper hand of an old rivalry with Leyland Leacock, who he defeated 6-3, 6-3.
Using his trademark top spin lobs and some crunching forehand winners down the line, Squires, who recently retained the national title was never threatened and romped to an easy win in the opening set.
Apart from a few lapses in concentration, the champ continued his onslaught against a determined, but clearly outclassed Leacock and dropped a similar amount of points in the second stanza, before wrapping it up to set up a clash with Sue-Ho.
The battle between two of Guyana’s best upcoming players promised to be a fiercely contested match-up, especially with both possessing powerful serves and booming forehand shots, but after a closely fought first set Sue-Ho cruised to a comfortable 6-4, 6-1 win.
The two traded powerful ground strokes in the opening set, but Sue-Ho broke to take a 5-3 lead and served for the match.
However, Downes broke back immediately to make it an interesting contest and served to stay in contention, but the determined Sue-Ho returned the favour claimed the set.
Riding on his momentum, Sue-Ho produced another classy display in the second set after the scores were levelled at 1-1, reeling off the next five games to eliminate Downes and set up a return date with Squires, who defeated him in the Pegasus Open last month for the national title.
Berbician Humphrey was also in impressive form, beating the improving Ramrattan 6-1, 6-1 and now has the opportunity to avenge her loss last year to Daly-Ramdyhan, who defeated her in three sets to claim the national title.
It is an eagerly anticipated showdown since, Daly-Ramdyhan was not absent at this year’s tournament due to an overseas assignment and therefore was unable to defend her title.
Daly-Ramdyhan had a tougher time in getting rid of the best junior player on the local circuit in Gentle, registering a 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 victory.
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