The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

JACOBI Bain got his first taste of competing in an International Tennis Federation 18-and-under final and he and his Canadian partner Ilya Tiraspolsky made the best of it in the boys’ doubles of the Goombay Splash Bowl.

Unfortunately, the duo was unable to withstand the more experienced pair of Andrea Cugini and Gianmarco Ferrari from Italy. Bain and Tiraspolsky, playing together for the first time last week at the National Tennis Centre, lost to Cugini and Ferrari 6-2, 6-4.

Their match came on Friday, just before the week long tournament closed out on Saturday with top seed Santiago Hinojosa and unseeded Evelyne Christelle Tiron winning the boys’ and girls’ titles.

Hinojosa, out of Mexico, disposed of unseeded Cleeve Haprer from Canada 6-2, 6-4 for the boys’ title, while Tiron from Romania continued her impressive here by pulling off a 6-3, 6-4 upset win over No.4 seed Yasemin Ada Boru of Turkey.

Playing before a sparse crowd that included his parents, Bradley and Marie Bain, former deputy prime minister Tommy Turnquest and former Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association President Kit Spencer, Bain and Tiraspolsky gave all they had.

But the lack of experience from the youngest team in the tournament showed up as they opened a 4-1 lead in the second set, but could not close out the match as Cugini and Ferrari rallied back to take the next five games to secure the win.

“It felt pretty good. I think we played our best tennis today,” said Bain, who admitted that he nor Tiraspolsky were distraught by the outcome. “My partner is really good. He has a big forehand and a solid backhand. He’s really good.”

Over the past year, Bain, who has grown in height standing between 5-feet-11 to 6-0 and now wearing size 13 in shoes, said he too has progressed playing in Europe and he’s pleased to come home and display his skills.

“I want to thank my team, my parents, my supporters, my fitness coach and my tennis coach” he said. “I think I’ve progressed very well. I think I’m playing my best tennis.”

A soft spoken Tiraspolsky said it was a good experience playing with Bain. “It was good. It was fun,” he said. “I think we played good. I think I played with him once when we were younger. He has really progressed.”

Cugini, speaking on behalf of the winning doubles team, said while this was the first time for them in the Bahamas, they are excited to be leaving as the champions.

 “We played well in the first set, but we are happy that we were able to come back and win the way we did in the second set,” he said.

Cugini, 15, lost in the first round in singles to American qualifier Felipe Hidalgo 6-2, 6-3 and Ferrari, 16, got beat in the second round by Roger Lyn, the American No.3 seed, who won 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.

On Monday, Bain played in the first round of singles where he got eliminated after taking his opponent to three sets before losing to Cleeve Harper from Canada 6-4, 1-6, 6-2. Tiraspolsky, 14, reached the quarterfinal where he got knocked out 6-3, 6-3 to No.6 seed to Giovanni Bellio from Venezuela.

“I think I played very well in my first ITF 18s,” he said. “I think I will be able to improve as I go on to play in my next tournament at the Orange Bowl in Florida and that will be the end of the year for me. But my overall year has gone very well. I’m top 150 in Europe and I’ve just got my first ITF point. I played several good matches in Europe, so I’m really looking forward to next year. I hope to play more tournaments in Europe and play more ITFs.”

Bain, however, admitted that the 14s in Europe is tougher than in the USA because the field is much stronger. But he said he was able to hold his own.

Also during the tournament, Sydney Clarke advanced to the quarterfinal of the girls’ singles where she was eliminated by top seed Laura Quezada Martinez from the Dominican Republic. But the following day, Martiniez had another intense matched and she got knocked out of the semifinal by Boru.

Clarke and her partner Zulay Castaneda from Panama, along with Shepherd and her Canadian partner Kristina Tiraspolsky both reached the quarterfinal of the girls’ doubles before they lost.

In other singles results, Bahamians Iesha Shepherd and Sierra Donaldson both got eliminated in the second round and Donte Armbrister and Trenton Smith were ousted in the boys’ first round.