The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IESHA Shepherd said she knew it wasn’t going to be an easy run defending her women’s title at the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association’s 2016 Giorgio Baldacci National Open Tennis Challenge.

On Friday at the National Tennis Centre, top seed Shepherd had to fight to the end to secure a 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 win over No.2 seed Sydney Clarke in a classic showdown between two of the four ladies who will represent the Bahamas at the Fed Cup in Uruguay in July.

“I expected it to be competitive, but I didn’t expect the outcome of the final score,” Shepherd said. “I lost the first set. She played very well. I have to give it to her.

“I stayed at a certain level that I thought she was when I played her a while back. But I had to step up my level and won the second set. From then, I got my momentum up and I was up 3-0 in the third set and I went into a drought.”

Without knowing exactly what happened, Shepherd was broken twice as Clarke bounced back for a 3-3 tie. They both broke each other for a 5-5 tie before Shepherd got the final break to go up 6-5 and held for the win.

“It was a very competitive third set,” Shepherd said. “She brought the competition to me today.”

But Shepherd said it was good to come out with another national title under her belt.

“Defending it feel sweet, but it feels just like another junior tournament,” she said. “The other women didn’t come to play, so it was a bitter-sweet moment. I wanted to play against the other top players like Kerrie (Cartwright), Simone (Pratt) and Danielle (Thompson).

“I would have preferred to see how well I play against those players, but they didn’t show. I won the title again, so I have to be pleased with that accomplishment.”

For Clarke, who played extremely well in the first set, breaking Shepherd three times to take the early lead, had some problems in the second and third set and it denied her the opportunity to celebrate with the title.

“I didn’t come out with the win, but I played awesome,” said the CR Walker tenth grader. “I was making shots in the first set and I knew if I eliminated the errors, I could have won the second set.

“But I had some mixed emotions because there were some times when I wanted to give up because I was not making my shots. I realized that when she missed her shots, I should have capitalized, but I didn’t.”

While Shepherd, 17, got into the final with her 6-4, 6-3 win over 15-year-old Elana Mackey in the semifinal on Thursday, Clarke, 15, knocked of 16-year-old Sierra Donaldson 7-5, 6-2 in the other semifinal.

Also on Friday, Mackey pulled of the third place with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Donaldson. After easily taking the first set, Mackey fell behind 3-0 to start the second set. But she broke Donaldson as she fought back for a 3-3 tie.

Mackey broke again for a 4-3 advantage and again to secure the 6-4 win.

“I felt I played good and I kept her moving so I could put the ball away,” said Mackey, a 10th grader at Nassau Christian Academy. “The strategy I had worked. My serve was good. I got a lot of my first serves in.

“In the second set, I got kind of relaxed and I played lazy. I was down 3-0, but I started to fight again and I played like I did in the first set and I won it.”

Donaldson said although she lost, she performed better than she did in the initial set.

“I guess I didn’t execute my techniques. Hopefully next time I will be ready to do it,” she said. “The experience playing in the tournament was a very god one. It was the same girls I played against before, so it was good.”

Shepherd, Clarke, Mackey and Donaldson earned their berths out of a field of seven in the week long tournament to represent the Bahamas in the Fed Cup tie in July in Uruguay.

Unfortunately, none of the senior players, including Kerrie Cartwright, Simone Pratt and Danielle Thompson, participated in the tournament for a variety of reasons.

Despite their absence, BLTA president Elwood Donaldson said the tournament turned out to be very competitive and he commended the junior players for performing at a high standard.