The Tribune

AFTER a gruelling finish to advance on Tuesday night, Nikkita Fountain and Larikah Russell failed to repeat the effort and were ousted in round two of the doubles draw. In the Bahamas Open women's tennis tourney last night, the dynamic duo lost in straight sets (6-1, 6-0) to the top-ranked team of Natalie Grandin of South Africa and Vladimira Uhlirova of Czech Republic. In the first set, Grandin and Uhlirova scored on the opening serve on a quick return to take an early lead and never relinquished the advantage. In the second set, Fountain and Russell rebounded to take the second game to tie 1-1 but struggled to gain momentum throughout the night. The visitors took a commanding 3-0 lead while the Bahamian duo never got beyond a 30-30 tie in either game. They took a 40-30 lead in the 4th game but Grandin and Uhlirova forced deuce. They won the game when Fountain's return went long.