Jeremy Miller and Jason Andrews, Men’s Doubles champion
An exciting day of tennis produced three new title winners at the Pegasus Open on the penultimate day of the tournament. In the Men’s Doubles, top seeds Jeremy Miller/ Jason Andrews had to be at their absolute best to stave off the challenge of the defending champions Phillip Squires/ Godfrey Lowden in a game where the crowd were kept enthralled with the shot- making and excellent tennis on display.
Jason Andrews kept hitting the ball hard and it paid off.
Complemented by Miller’s steadiness and occasional brilliant shot-making, they were only just able to keep off the superb play of Lowden/ Squires who have won many doubles titles before. The first set went to the deciding tie-break and Miller/Andrews edged it out 8-6 to take the lead.
The second set followed the same trend as both teams played well and volleyed exceptionally well, with Andrews repeatedly closing out points with one volley on Miller’s serve. Squires and Lowden dug deep and hit some outstanding winners themselves to tie the game up at 4-4, before Lowden’s serve was broken before the set ended 6-4 to Miller/ Andrews on a forehand winner.
The Ladies Doubles featured both teams comprising top junior players as the more established pair and top seed Aruna Ramrattan/ Shawna Gentle took on Krystal Sukra and thirteen-year-old Nicola Ramdyhan.
The match was a marathon with numerous base-line rallies that lasted more than 20 strokes. Gentle, who recently won the Ladies Singles title was dominant at the net and hit some sharp volleys even though she missed some sitters as well. The first set went to Ramrattan/ Gentle, 7-6, before their younger opponents launched a comeback when down 3-1 in the second set. Ramdyhan and Sukra took the set 6-4 when they won some critical rallies, including one which went over 40 strokes as the players tried to stay calm on the pressure points.
In the super-tie break decider, Ramrattan/ Gentle started off aggressively and secured a 7-4 lead with some exceptional volleys.
However, this proved not to be the final twist in the back and forth game as Sukra hit some big serves which, coupled with some unforced errors from their opponents, allowed them to recover and win 10-8 and claim their first major doubles title. Andre Lopes, who had earlier teamed up with Carlos Adams to win the Men’s 35 doubles title, had his partner as his opponent in the Singles category.
Adams raced off to a 4-1 lead as he placed his shots well and finished with good volleys. It did not help Lopes that he double faulted several times to lose his serve.
However, Lopes, who had lost in the GBTI finals to Adams, began to stamp his authority on the game as he started going for his shots, cramping Adams especially on his forehand. Lopes won four straight games to take a 5-4 lead before Adams broke his serve. Lopes then won the next two games to secure the set 7-5. In the second set Lopes romped to the title with a 6- win as he pushed the pace on the game and began serving well.
The tournament ends with the Men’s Final between top seed Jeremy Miller and Phillip Squires.
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