The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WHILE Kerrie Cartwright and Dominique Mortier will square off for the women’s singles title today, the road to the men’s title in the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association’s Giorgio Baldacci Elite Open National Tennis Tournament will get underway with the main draw at the National Tennis Centre.

With a limited amount of women signed up to compete, top seed Cartwright needed only a 6-0, 6-0 whitewashing of Gabriella Donaldson to clinch her berth into the final. Dominique Mortier, the No.2 seed, earned her berth with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Shay’Tonya Missick.

As for the men, four players emerged out of the qualifying round to join eight players, who were given automatic berths in the main draw. Rodney Carey, Joshua Turnquest, Dylan Walker and Shannon Francis advanced out of the qualifying that concluded on Thursday.

Carey eliminated Oneal Mortimer 6-1, 6-3, Dylan Walker got by Wayne Russell 6-2, 6-1, Turnquest ousted Robert Smith 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 and Francis disposed of Michael Cooper 6-1, 6-1.

By virtue of their victories, the quartet will play today out of the main draw that comprises of top seeds Devin Mullings and Marvin Rolle. The other six players entered are Kevin Major Jr, Jamal Adderley, William Fountain, Justin Lunn, Jody Turnquest and Philip Major Jr.

The tournament is being held in memory of the late Baldacci, who passed away on November 10, 2012. Baldacci played an integral role in the development of many of the players who have either gone on to play at the collegiate level or are now in the professional ranks.

The players will get the first opportunity to play against each other and they are quite excited about the challenge.

“You could expect my best. I’m sure that I will do the best I could, no more than that,” said Philip Major Jr, who has been competing on the pro circuit. “Hopefully I can come out with some good results.”

Major Jr, 18, had to skip the tournament last year because of an injury.

“Thank God I can play this year at full strength,” he said. “Hopefully everything will go very well for me. I’ve been trying to make the transition from junior tennis to the professional ranks. It’s been going well, having qualified for a number of tournaments, so I feel I will do very well.”

Grand Bahamian Rodney Carey, now in his junior year at South Carolina State, managed to get his feet wet early when he played in the qualifying and now he’s confident that he can continue to play at a high level.

“It was good to get a match in that I can feel comfortable with before I start the main draw,” said the 22-year-old. “I’m hoping that I can come here and play better than I did in the past. The last two years I got knocked out in the first round, so I’m coming here to play the best of my ability and see how it goes.”

For Justin Lunn, after getting eliminated in the second round, he’s looking to redeem himself this time around.

“I’m looking good and playing much stronger. I’m in much better shape and so I expect to play much better,” said the 23-year-old pro player. “I’m looking forward to being here to show what I’ve been working on. I know everybody has been waiting on me to come back, so I think it will be interesting.”

While the men will battle it out for the next three days for their title, Mortier is eager to match her skills against Carey for the women’s title.

She noted that she was quite pleased with her performance against Missick, winning 6-3, 7-5.

“She’s a good competitor. I had a lot of fun. It was a good experience. It was just nice to be playing at home again,” said Mortier.

“College is going pretty well. I had a good semester. I am majoring in biology so I’m just trying to juggle school and tennis at the same time. I think it’s nice to be competing here at home after not competing in a year or so.”

Against Carey, Mortier said it will be her first time matching up against her, so she’s excited to play against her. “I’ve never played her before. She’s an older player, very experienced, so I’m looking forward to getting a good experience out of it and just playing loose and playing free. I have nothing to lose. Just have fun.”