The Tribune

The 2024 Giorgio Baldacci Open Tennis Nationals got off to a rough start due to intermittent rain but that did not stop the tennis players from advancing to the semifinals yesterday at the National Tennis Centre (NTC).

Monday’s tennis action featured former Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup (BJKC) standout performers as well as collegiate athletes all vying for a chance to earn bragging rights as the male and female national champions.

In the men’s bracket, the top seeded Howard Bison Michael Major Jr made it look easy against Miguel Smith. He cruised to a comfortable 6-0 victory in set one and two to advance to today’s semifinals round.

William McCartney booked a spot in the semifinals after knocking off Theophilus Weir 6-0, 6-1 in consecutive sets.

McCartney and Major Jr will now go head-to-head today to determine who will make the trip to the final round of competition.

The second seeded Donte Armrbrister handled business against Dentry Mortimer Jr in their quarterfinals matchup. He dominated Mortimer 6-1 in the initial set and sent him packing with a 6-2 score in set two.Despite having to brave the weather conditions at the NTC, Armbrister said it was a competitive matchup against Mortimer.

“It was a good match to start off with. It was a bit tricky with the weather today because it was very windy. I tried not to do so much and just tried to work myself into the points to get a rhythm,” he said.

With the Giorgio Baldacci male national title up for grabs, Armbrister is hoping to make it all the way to the finals.

“It feels good to be in the semis. I am playing Denali in the next round and I think it is gonna be an exciting match and I am very excited for it. We haven’t played since 2018 and we have always been good friends and rivals throughout the years so it is just good to play him one more time. My expectation is to make it to the finals and hopefully win,” he said.

Denali Nottage cleaned up against Cailan Bowe in their quarterfinals showdown. Nottage claimed consecutive set wins with a score of 6-0 to advance to the semis.

The action was intense in the women’s open singles division. 

Aryauna Davis knocked off Leila O’Brien in the opening round 6-2,6-2 to face off against the reigning women’s national champion and first seed Simone Pratt.

Davis spoke about the win over O’Brien.

“It feels nice. It was a good match. I feel like some of the shots I wanted to hit I was able to do so it was really good,” she said.

Her goal was to advance to the semis but the reigning women’s champion thwarted those chances in the quarterfinals.

Pratt toppled Davis in back-to-back sets 6-0,6-0 to move on to the semis.

Sarai Clarke and Jalisa Clarke faced off in the quarterfinals but it would be the latter to nab the victory 6-1,6-2 in straight sets.

Clarke will now have her work cut out against the top seed in today’s semifinals.

Sapphire Ferguson and Breann Ferguson battled to the finish in the women’s open singles quarterfinals. B Ferguson prevailed against her opponent in hard fought matchups 6-4,6-4 to advance to the semifinal round.

She is now set to face the second seeded Sydney Clarke, who sent Caila Bowe home in consecutive sets 6-0,6-0.

The semifinals matchups are expected to be extremely competitive as the tennis players look to not only emerge as the national champion but also secure a spot on the 2025 Davis Cup and 2025 BJKC teams.

The two finalists on the men and women’s side will be invited to participate on the respective teams next year. 

Competition continues today at the NTC starting at 9am.