The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Kevin Major Jr, playing in his second tournament for the year, clinched another title as he breezed through the USTA/UTR Open Championships in Miami Beach (South Beach), Florida.

As the tournament concluded yesterday at the Flamingo Park Tennis Center, Major Jr didn’t have to play in the final after his opponent, Gui Gomes from the University of Illinois, had to leave to play in a collegiate match.

“I wanted to beat him. Nobody wants to win like that. You want to earn it,” he said.

“You don’t want people to say the guy didn’t play in the final, so you don’t know what could have happened. Win or lose, I want to be able to earn it.”

Major Jr, however, advanced to the final with a third set tie-breaker with a 7-6, 3-6, 10-8 win over Keenan Mayo from the University of Illinois.

“That one was really tough today,” Major Jr said. “I haven’t had to fight like that in a while. So for me to hold him off, I was really pleased with my performance.

“My serve was a lot bigger and a lot more consistent so that helped me a lot today.

“Of the most recent tournaments I’ve won, this was the toughest one,” Major Jr said. “I haven’t played that well and felt that well in a long time, although I was winning a lot.

“So I’m starting to see a lot of progress in terms of how I feel on the court and how well I played. This one is the most enjoyable one I’ve had in quite a while.”

The victory followed Major Jr’s triumph at the BMW Tennis Championships in February at the Pembroke Lakes Tennis Club in Pembroke Pines, Florida, where he won 6-1, 5-7, 6-1 over No.4 seed Jack Vance.

“I feel like I’m in a very good place right now and it can only get better from here,” Major Jr said.

“It’s still early in the year and there is still a lot more tournaments to play. So I hope I can stay healthy and I am able to keep going forward.”

After getting a bye in the first round of the tournament, Major Jr took on Hank Bessinger from Lynn University, whom he beat with identical scores of 6-2, 6-2. He then took on Fletcher Scott from the University of Illinois, winning 6-4, 6-4.

In the quarter-finals, Major Jr was scheduled to take on fellow Bahamian Philip Major Jr, but that match never took place.

Philip got injured and had to retire as Kevin Major Jr was awarded a walkover.

“We both were looking forward to playing that match,” he said. “It was unfortunate that he got injured. We both were really looking forward to it. Hopefully we will get a chance in another tournament this year.”

Major Jr, who is preparing for his 24th birthday on March 25, said he’s not sure when and where his next international tournament will take place.

In the meantime, he’s looking forward to coming home to compete in another trials this year for the selection for the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Federation’s national team that will compete at the American Zone Davis Cup tie in September.

Note: Before he got injured, Philip Major Jr won his first round match 6-2, 6-2 over Joseph Van Deinse. In the second round, he won 7-5 4-6, 10-6 over Michal Motyka.

However, he got injured and wasn’t able to play his quarter-finals against Kevin Major Jr.