The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

While all but two of the seeded players survived the first round of the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association’s Junkanoo Bowl, none of the Bahamian players advanced in the ITF Junior Circuit Tournament at the National Tennis Centre.

The week-long tournament swung into high gear yesterday following the qualifying rounds over the weekend as Americans Danny Thomas and Hurricane Tyra Black led the world-class field of competitors with their performances as the No.1 male and female seeds respectively.

Thomas, ranked No.306 on the junior circuit, pulled off a 6-2, 6-4 win over Amaury De Beer from Mauritius as he made his initial appearance here a successful one.

“I’m really enjoying it. The hotel is nice and the people are all so friendly,” said Black, who hails from Columbus, Ohio. “My first match went well. I think I played well. I just want to continue to play well.”

Thomas, 16, said he hasn’t played in a tournament since he lost in the round of 16 at the Metropolia ITF at Plantation in May, but he has enjoyed some big wins over some top notch American opponents this year and he’s hoping that he can get back to that level.

On the other hand, Black’s performance wasn’t what she expected.

The top female seed from Boca Raton, Florida, who is ranked at 128 on the junior circuit, won 6-2, 6-1 over compatriot Isabella Mermersky, but admitted that it wasn’t what she had anticipated.

“She’s a pretty good player, but I think I could have played better,” said Black, who just turned 15 on March 2.

“I think I just came onto the court a little tight because I haven’t played that many matches in the past few months. I just hope that I can play better and better with each match.”

Black is the younger sister of Tornado Alicia Black, 18, the former Top-5 world-ranked junior and 2013 US Open girls’ finalist who is now playing on the pro circuit.

Two seeded players were ousted on day one on the boys’ side. They were Robert Hammond, No.5, who lost 6-1, 6-4 to Santiago Hinojosa from Mexico and Zummy Bauer, who fell 6-1, 6-0 to Vasyl Kiselyov from Ukraine.

As for the Bahamian participation, the 6-foot-2 American southpaw Zachary Garner, the No.7 seed from Las Vegas, Nevada, knocked off O’Neal Mortimer 6-2, 6-1 in the boys’ match-up.

“I want to go as far as I can, so I will see how it goes,” said 16-year-old Garner, who is back for his second tournament in the Bahamas after playing here in November where he lost in the quarterfinals of the Goombay Splash Bowl.

“I think I played very well today. I served very well too. I just love being in the Bahamas. It’s really nice. We’re staying in a nice hotel in Melia.”

The best showing by a Bahamian came from 14-year-old Donte Armbrister, who suffered an identical 6-4, 6-4 defeat at the hands of American Joshu Bode.

“It was a nice experience. Playing in my second ITF under-18, I was just trying to get used to playing against different opponents with different styles,” said Armbrister, who also lost in the first round of the Goombay Splash here in November.

“As one of the youngest players in the tournament, I tried to catch my opponent by surprise. But my service was off and I missed some of my easy points.”

Other Bahamians eliminated on day one were John Kelly, who lost 6-1, 6-4 to American Trey Hilderbrand, Sierra Donaldson, who lost 6-3, 6-0 to American Shelly Yaloz, Afrika Smith, who lost 6-2, 6-0 to American No.8 seed Willa Bay Breunich and Isabel Donaldson, who lost 6-0, 6-0 to American Jennifer Gadalov.

There was one close call that left those watching a little concerned as Arthur Bernabe from France experienced some stomach aches as he was playing against American Dimitri Bird. Leading 6-5 in the second set, the No.4 seed Bernabe got some medical attention and was able to hold serve to secure the 6-3, 7-5 win to move on.

Following the qualifying rounds over the weekend, Americans Jacob Beasley, William Peters and Nicholas Watson, along with Canadian Liam Draxl, got into the boys’ main draw.

However Beasley, the top seed in the qualifying and No.8 in the main draw, was the only one to survive, winning 6-3, 6-2 over Karol Paluch from Poland.

On the girls’ side, the qualifiers were top seed Brianne Tulloch and her American compatriots Sofia Camila Rojas and Rachel Trelbick Caplan as well as Holly Fischer from Germany.

None of the Americans advanced as Tulloch lost 6-2, 6-0 to American No.3 seed Amanda Meyer, Natsumi Kawaguchi from Japan won 6-5, 6-2 over Rojas and Caplan couldn’t finish her match after losing 7-6 (0) in the opening set, retiring after falling behind 1-0 in the second set to Lucia de Santa Ana from Uruguay.

Fischer is slated to play today. Also today, Sebastian Mermersky, who lost in the quarterfinal as the top seed in the Goombay Splash, is back and will play from the No.2 spot behind Thomas on the boys’ side.

Lulu Radovcic from Switzerland will play as the No.2 seed on the girls’ side.

The doubles competition is all set to begin today following the completion of all of the singles matches.