The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association will conclude the ladies’ round robin of the Giorgio Baldacci Open Nationals Challenge today with a match-up between two undefeated players as Elana Mackey and Sydney Clarke will compete for the top spot in pool B.

Clarke, limited to just one match a day due to her commitment to school at CR Walker Secondary High, pulled off an identical 6-2, 6-2 win over Gabriela Donaldson yesterday at the National Tennis Centre to move to 2-0 in the round robin. She joined Mackey, who is also 2-0.

Both players by virtue of their records will advance to the single playoffs that will be played on Thursday when they cross over to play the top two players out of pool A – Iesha Shepherd and Sierra Donaldson.

Shepherd, the defending champion, won pool A with a 2-0 record, while Donaldson finished at 1-1.

The other player in their pool was Sydni Kerr, who was winless at 0-2.

Rounding out pool B were Gabriela Donaldson at 1-2 for third and Afrika Smith at 0-3 in fourth place.

At the end of the tournament, the BLTA will select the team for the Fed Cup that will be played in July in Urugray.

BLTA president Elwood Donaldson said they were hoping that some of the senior players would have participated in the tournament, but he commended all of the junior players for their performances so far.

“Iesha has proven that she’s still the player to beat,” Donaldson said. “All of the participants are juniors, which shows that our future is bright for women’s tennis.

“We had a newcomer in Elana Mackey, who pulled of two upsets and another newcomer Syndey Clarke has played extremely well. They will be going up against Fed Cup players Iesha Shepherd and Sierra Donaldson.

“So we look at this as a great competition and the week has gone very well so far for the ladies. So we’re looking forward to the elimination rounds coming up next.”

Donaldson the senior players were missing either because of injuries or their commitments to teaching full time.

“The older veterans like Nikita Fountain and Larikah Russell are full time coaches. We would like for them to come back in some type of coaching roles,” Donaldson said

“We know that Kerrie Cartwright wanted to come here to compete, but due to her green card visa issue in the United States, she was unable to make it. Some of the college players are not finished, so they couldn’t make it.”

Although it was mandatory for all players to compete in the tournament if they intend to make the national team, Donaldson said they are still hoping that the senior players will rally around and assist the younger players with their wealth of experience in the future.

“The talent level of the junior players has risen. They are playing much better than they did last year,” he insisted. “But we still need the veteran or senior players to help guide them along.”

With one more match to be played today to complete the round robin for the ladies, their single elimination playoffs will get started on Thursday.  If the final is not set to be played on Friday when the men are scheduled to play, Donaldson said they will wrap up on Saturday.