Bermudian wildcard reaches second round
Local wildcard Tariq Simons provided the drama at the W.E.R. Joell Tennis Stadium, holding his nerve in a gruelling, two-tie-break battle to reach the second round of the ITF M15 Bermuda Open.
Resuming following an overnight suspension, the Bermudian showed immense resolve to seal a gripping 7-6, 7-6 victory over American qualifier Mitchell Dobek, keeping home hopes alive in the singles draw.
The tournament’s marquee names were made to sweat. Top-seeded Jamaican Blaise Bicknell had to recover from an opening-set deficit to overcome Curaçao qualifier Aydan Gomez Osorio 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. Second seed Keshav Chopra followed an almost identical script, with the American battling back against Canada’s Niels Peter Van Noord to prevail 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Third seed Matt Kuhar endured no such alarms, dropping only two games in a clinical 6-2, 6-0 sweep of Guatemala’s Juan Sebastian Dominguez Collado, while sixth seed Noah Schachter brushed aside compatriot Tyler Mercier 6-4, 6-1.
In all-American ties, Gray Voelzke powered past Zachary Mintz 6-3, 6-0, while Jeffrey Fradkin fended off lucky loser Alexander Bravo 7-6, 6-2.
First-round doubles action was headlined by a tense match tie-break. Second seeds Volodymyr Gurenko and Van Noord edged Jamaica’s John Chin and Bermuda’s Trey Mallory 6-4, 2-6, 10-7.
Barbadian third seeds Kaipo Marshall and Stephen Slocombe were in rampant form, routing American Jonny Degroot and Simons 6-0, 6-1, while Dobek and Drew Van Orderlain caused an upset by dispatching top seed Bicknell and Harry Cicma 6-4, 7-6.
