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Downes upends Squires in thriller at GBTI Open

Jun 23, 2011 Sports

Leacock and the Sue-Ho’s also advance

In what was arguably the highest quality tennis match seen in Guyana in recent times, 19 years old Anthony Downes showed his class in getting past a determined Phillip Squires on Tuesday evening at the GBTI Courts in Bel Air Park.
The clash lived up to all expectations as the pair traded thunderous ground-strokes with Downes forehand being his main weapon against Squires serve and guile.
Such was the quality of the game that there was one rally which featured more than thirty strokes as Squires retrieved some near impossible balls as Downes painted the lines with his precise ground-strokes.
The match started off with Downes racing out to a 4-1 as he surprised Squires with his big hitting and more so his consistency. The first set ended 6-3.
The second set saw both players starting off aggressively as Downes put extra pace on his forehands and Squires seeking to advance to the net.
The first two games saw both Squires and Downes losing their serves, the highlights being three crunching forehand winners from Downes who came back from 0-40 down on his serve before double faulting to lose the momentum.
Squires secured a 3-1 after again breaking Downes serve in a marathon 5 deuce game as both players sought to seize the initiative.
Despite securing two breaks of Squires serve in the set, Downes costly double faults allowed Squires to go ahead and take the set 6-3 to even the match.
The third set followed a similar trend of marathon rallies and both players struggling to hold serve.
The second game featured an amazing 30 strokes rally which left the large crowd gasping as Downes had to paint the line on an inside out forehand in order to get past a scrambling Squires.
Squires made some near impossible retrievals to prolong the point as he desperately sought to hold serve in the critical game which he eventually dropped.
Squires however still secured a 3-1 lead but the long rallies with Downes took a toll as he could not sustain the momentum and lost his serve as he made unforced errors and allowed Downes to tie the set at 3 all.
Downes subsequently stepped up a gear and his punishing forehands ended up being the difference as he then won the next three games against the wilting Squires to secure the set 6-3 and a spot in the semi finals.
Final score: 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
Downes will next face the winner between second seed Ezra Sue-Ho and Sandeep Chand who are scheduled to play on Thursday in a quarter final match-up.
In other matches played Nicholas Glasgow despite peppering Leyland Leacock with winners could only win two games as the veteran player was content to play a smart game and capitalise on his exuberant opponent’s mistakes. Leacock advances to the quarter finals where he will face top Under 18 player Gavin Lewis.
In the Men Doubles Ezra and Rawle Sue-Ho outlasted the top junior pairing of Daniel Lopes /Gavin Lewis 6-4 6-3 to advance to the semi-finals where they will face defending champions Jeremy Miller/Jason Andrews. The father/son combination played a smart game against their opponents which allowed them to take advantage of Ezra’s strong net game which Rawle backed up with steady serving.
In Men’s 45 doubles semi-final action the teams of Carlos Adams/Harry Panday will face off against Maxie Fox/Sakae Yamada on Thursday after they both posted wins in their semi-final games against Albert Madramootoo / Steve David Longe and Omar Persaud/Yamin respectively.
On Thursday top seed in the Men Singles Jeremy Miller will take on Daniel Lopes whilst Leyland Leacock will face Gavin Lewis. Shawna Gentle is down to face Aretta Dey in Ladies Semi final action as well.
Men Singles (Q-Finals) Anthony Downes def. Phillip Squires 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
Men Doubles Ezra Sue-Ho/Rawle Sue-Ho def. Daniel Lopes/ Gavin Lewis 6-4, 6-3
Men Singles- (Q-Finals) Leyland Leacock def. Nicholas Glasgow 6-2, 6-0
Over 45 Doubles- Carlos Adams / Harry Panday def. A. Madramootoo / Steve David Longe 6-2, 6-4
Over 45 Doubles- Maxie Fox /Yamada def. Omar Persaud /Yamin 6-1, 6-0.

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