The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

Day one of the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association’s Giorgio Baldacci Open Challenge Tennis Tournament held true to form as most of the top seeds in the main draw dominated en route to the next round.

The impressive play of the juniors became the theme of the day, highlighted by Danielle Thompson when she pulled off the biggest upset of the afternoon by defeating third seeded Nikkita Fountain in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.

Also in the Women’s Main Draw, top seeded Simone Pratt won 6-2, 6-2 and Kerrie Cartwright, ranked No.2, won over Gabrielle Moxey 6-1, 6-1. In the only other singles match of the draw, fourth seeded Larikah Russell advanced with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Chelsi Russell.

In the semifinal round, defending champion Pratt is slated to face  Russell, who won in 2010 but didn’t defend her title last year.

In the other half of the draw, Cartwright is set to face the unseeded Thompson, who recently came off a quarterfinal berth at last month’s Goombay Splash Bowl.

In the Men’s Draw, the third seed was again the only ranked player to fall when Kevin Major Jr defeated Justin Lunn 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.

Marvin Rolle, top seed and defending champion, breezed to the next round with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Kevaughn Ferguson.

Former Olympian Devin Mullings continues to make his return from hip surgery and, as the second ranked player in the draw, advanced with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Archie Burrows.

Fourth seeded Jamaal Adderley won 6-3, 6-2 over Jody Turnquest.

Also in the men’s draw, Rasheed Carey gave Timothy Neilly all he could handle before the former Davis Cup team member took control and clinced the third set. Neilly won 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.

In other matches, Rodney Carey won 6-3, 6-0 over Philip Major, Johnathan Taylor upset Ceron Rolle 7-5, 7-5 and Shaquille Taylor won 7-6, 7-6 over William Fountain.  

In the quarterfinals, Rolle is slated to face Neilly, Adderley squares off against Carey, Johnathan Taylor goes up against Kevin Major Jr and Shaquille Taylor will face Mullings.

As BLTA president Derron Donaldson said prior to the tournament, the field is very strong in both divisions.

“Just from the guys entries alone we are shocked because in this tournament in the past, they only took the top 16 players,” he said. “But we were able to draw about 26 players to compete, so it’s a good thing. Like I told the players, we are trying to get the best players and when you limit it to 16 players only, we’re doing ourselves a disservice in trying to get the best team to represent the country.”

From the tournament, Donaldson said the BLTA will not select the teams to represent the Bahamas at the Davis Cup for men in June and the Fed Cup for women in July because the time frame is just too long. The tournament continues 9am today.