The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AFTER a gruelling day of competition in the preliminary rounds, Dentry Mortimer Jr had enough left in the tank to prevail with the under-14 singles championship title over his Island Tennis Bahamas training partner Khai Rees.

The duo, both students of St Augustine’s College as well, went head-to-head in the final match played in the inaugural Island Tennis Bahamas tournament on Saturday at the Baha Mar resort’s tennis facility.

Like they did all through the tournament, the pair played one single set to determine the winner. In the end, it was Mortimer that powered through with a 7-3 decision over Rees in a showdown between the top two performers in a match that was completed under the lights shortly after 7pm.

“It was great. It was a tough match and a tough opponent,” said Mortimer, a 16-year-old 10th grader at SAC.

“It was a lot of matches today, but I just executed the things I was working on all year in practice.”

It was the first time that the training partners got a chance to face each other in a tournament, but Mortimer Jr said he felt he was just in better condition to go for the long haul in the end.

Rees, coming off his double victory at the Bahama Pure Water and Ice Grand Bahama Invitational last weekend in Grand Bahama, said it was unfortunate that he lost, but it couldn’t have come to a more deserving opponent. “He was just playing better than me today,” said Rees, a 14-year-old ninth grader at SAC.

It showed after Mortimer jumped out to an impressive 3-0 start. But although he was able to make a comeback, Rees admitted that it wasn’t enough to pull off the win in the end.

“I realised he was rushing me, so I had to go back to the fence and recollect myself and try to refocus and I was able to win a couple of extra points,” Rees said. ”It was very tiresome, but hopefully the next time we meet, I can pull off the win.”

The match went in spurts with Mortimer surging out front 3-0, only to watch as Rees stormed back for a 3-2 deficit. But Mortimer extended the lead again to 5-2. After Rees saved two match points, Mortimer went on to secure the match. “I relied a lot on more serves when I play,” Mortimer Jr reflected. “I felt I did a good job on my serve. I wasn’t making a lot of first serves, but sometimes you just have to go with what’s working. I did what I had to do to win.”

Mortimer Jr, who hopes to follow in the footsteps of his father Dentry Mortimer as a professional tennis player, said he’s delighted to hold the bragging rights as the first champion of the Island Tennis Bahamas Tournament and he’s looking forward to playing in the next one.

Tournament director Philip Major Jr said the final brought back a lot of memories from his playing days as a junior. “Just to have kids playing in this final after 7pm is kind of foreign these days,” said Major Jr, who along with Kevin ‘KJ’ Major Jr founded the Island Tennis Bahamas programme last month. “I haven’t seen that in a very long time. As for me, it was a success just to see tennis last so long in a day. That speaks volumes and that is beyond us and moving forward, we want that to always be the case. So I’m proud and happy to see the way they played in the tournament.”

Mortimer Jr finished on top of pool A with 18 games. Sierra Rogers was the runner-up with 12 points. In pool B, Rees topped the field with 24 points. He was followed by Sapphire Ferguson with 18.

Rees’ younger brother, Kingston Rees, 9, captured the under-12 divisional title after he accumulated a total of 24 points.

“I felt good,” said Kingston Rees, a grade four student at Xavier’s Lower School. “The matches were very hard. “My brother inspired me to play tennis. He’s doing a pretty good job of it, but I want to be better than him.”

Nicholas Rees, the proud father of both Khai and Kingston Rees, said they both raised the level of their games.

“I was extremely impressed with the level of play that was exhibited here today,” said Rees, a two-time Olympic swimmer. “I’m proud to be a part of Island Tennis Bahamas, trying to get the kids sorted out. This is the first time this is being done in the Bahamas with Island Tennis and so this will only help the juniors and the kids. So it’s going to be exciting as we move forward.”

Khai Rees is now heading off to Boca Raton, Florida to participate in a Level 5 tournament next week.