The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WHILE it was a struggle to the very end for Jacobi Bain, it was smooth sailing for Sydney Clarke.

In the end, they were the only two Bahamian players to survive the second round of singles of the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association’s hosting of the International Tennis Federation’s Goombay Splash Bowl.

On day two of the week-long tournament at the National Tennis Centre, Bain had to grit it out for a hard fought 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over male No.2 seed Jc Roddick of the United States.

Just before that, Clarke, the top female seed, breezed past her Albany Academy training partner Emma Kesterson from New Zealand, 6-3, 6-1.

On day one of doubles, Elana Mackey teamed up with American Laurel Coleman and was one of two Bahamians successful in moving on as they won 2-6, 6-4, 10-3 over the American combo of Ella Brissett and Sophia Rogers.

The other was Anthony Burrows, who teamed up with Eduardo Sanchez-Carrion to win their boys’ match over Marvin Kuehnelt of Germany and Jacob Sutton of the USA.

However, Grand Bahamian sisters Abigail and Gabrielle Simms got eliminated 6-4, 6-2 in their match against Rolas Abouzeina of Egypt and Andrea Guerrero of Mexico, Kinza Johnson and her American partner Peyton Lynn Anderson of the USA lost 6-1, 6-2 to the American team of Leyden Games snd Maya Rukosley and Sydni Kerr and her New Zealand partner Emma Kesterson lost 6-4, 6-0 to the American combo of Baylen Brown and Madison Smith.

Bain in three sets

The smaller Roddick used his speed and service game to control the tempo of the first set as he broke Bain twice at 1-0 and 3-0 to eventually take the first set.

But Bain got an early break in the second set and was able to take the lead. Serving down 4-2, Roddick suffered a slight injury to his side when he crashed into the fence. But he was still able to hold serve.

Bain, however, got the break at the end to pull off the second set. In the third, Roddick got a break in between holding serve for a 3-0 lead. But Bain returned the favour to pull even at 3-3. Bain then got a break at 5-4 and held for the game, set and match.

“This was a good one. I thought I played pretty good,” Bain said. “I played much better than I played in my first round, so it was pretty good.”

After losing the first set, Bain said he stepped up his game and that frustrated Roddick a bit in the final two sets.

Bain is now hoping that his performance will propel him as the tournament continues today. “I know I can play better tennis than I did today, so I’m just looking forward to playing better,” he said.

Clarke in two straight

After breaking to go up 2-1, Clarke went on to break and held for the first set against Kesterson on court one. The second set was a little quicker after Clarke broke to go up 3-1. She cruised to her win from there.

“I was nervous today, more nervous because the girl I played against, we train together at Albany,” Clarke said. “We play against each other, so we kind of know each other’s game, so I was kind of shaky in the first set.

“Once I settled down and started to put the ball on the court, I was able to function more. Instead of going for too much winners, I decided to put the ball in play on the court and make her force the errors.”

Clarke, who celebrated her 17th birthday on Sunday, said her goal is to win the tournament this year, so she’s going to continue pushing and giving it her all.

Simms lost in three sets

The only other Bahamian in action in singles was Grand Bahamian Abigail Simms, who suffered a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 decision to No.2 seed Nicole Kiefer from the USA.

In the third set, Kiefer got a break in the first and third games and was able to secure the win. “The first set was really good and then in the second set, I started to get frustrated and she started playing a lot better,” Kiefer said. “But in the third set, I got back to my game and I finally closed it out.”

The 16-year-old Florida native is returning to improve on her semi-final appearance last year. She said her goal is to win it this year.

Simms, 17, said it was a difficult match, especially playing the No.2 seed. “I know it was going to be a challenge, but I fought well,” she stated. “It was pretty good.”

• Results of other singles matches played are as follows:

Girls

American Madison Smith def. No.4 seed Rachel Trelbick from the USA 6-2, 3-6, 6-0; Hannah Pinto of the USA def. Ella Brissett of the USA 6-4, 6-1; Leyden Games of the USA def. No.3 seed Genevieve Quenville of Canada 6-2, 6-1; Andrea Guerrero of Mexico def. Ava Sadaqui 7-5, 6-2; No.5 Ashley Vielma of the USA def. Rebeca Lopez of Mexico 7-5, 6-2; No.7 Artemis Pados of the USA def. Baylen Brown of the USA 6-1, 6-1.

Boys

Derek Raskopf of the USA def. No.5 seed Plotr Kusiewicz of Poland 6-0, 7-5; top seed Quinn McLeod of the USA def. Mark Lajal of Estonia 6-4, 5-7, 6-4; Raunak Sood of the USA def. Paolo Flores of the USA 6-1, 6-2; No.8 seed Riley Odell of the USA def. Mihir Amte of the USA 6-0, 6-2and Michael Nicholls of the USA def. John Ziolo of the USA 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.