Saturday, March 29 2008

THE TRINIDAD and Tobago pair of Jualon Greig and Adrian De Silva was beaten in yesterday’s semifinal round of the Boys’ Under-14 singles on the penultimate day of the IBM-sponsored International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior Circuit Grade Four Tournament.

Under blistering hot conditions at Jean Pierre Sports Complex, Mucurapo, Greig was eliminated 6-3, 6-2 by Yannik James of Grenada while De Silva fared even worse, as he was defeated 6-2, 6-1 by Gian Issa of Suriname.

In the girls’ equivalent, Sarah Hew of Suriname cruised past Tyler Smith of Bermuda 6-3, 6-2 while Hew’s countrywoman Amber Boermeester rallied from a set down to edge Halima Michael of St Vincent 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.

The top two seeds in the Boys’ Under-18 division, Michael Davis and Diego Acosta, both strolled into today’s final. Davis, of Great Britain, trounced Jorge Varon of Venezuela 6-3, 6-1 while Acosta took care of Alexander Rojas of Venezuela 7-5, 6-0.

And the American pair of Gina Suarez and Alessandra Bonte were eliminated in the semifinal stage - Suarez was beaten 6-3, 6-1 by Monica Puig of Puerto Rico while Bonte fell 7-5, 6-4 to France’s Anne-Sophie Porry.

The Boys’ Under-18 singles final will be contested today at 8.30 am while the other three finals - Girls’ Under-18, Boys’ Under-14 and Girls’ Under-14, will all start simultaneously at 9 o’clock.