Phillips reigns on clay

Randy Phillips remains the Levy Cheeks Swept Away Clay Court Men’s Open tennis champion after breaking McCoy Malcolm five times on his way to a 6-1, 6-3 victory at the Swept Away courts in Negril.

After suffering a 6-0, 6-4 defeat in last year’s final, Malcolm had vowed to turn the tables on the former national representative.

However, he was given an early reminder of what he was up against when Phillips secured a break in the opening game to set the tone for the contest.

Leading 3-1 in the first set, Phillips broke again and added another break in the seventh game to wrap up the set 6-1 in 30 minutes.

The second set lasted a little longer, taking another 15 minutes as the midday sun beat down on the court.

Phillips opened the set by holding serve before breaking for a 2-0 lead, but failed to hold serve in the third game as Malcolm fought back and levelled the score at 2-2.

A change of racquet, however, appeared to do the trick for Phillips, who broke Malcolm in the sixth game before serving out the set 6-3.

The victory was Phillips’ seventh at the tournament, one more than American Vince Mackey.

“Yes, it is a good feeling. I didn’t even realise, but I am happy to have that record,” Phillips told The Gleaner.

“I really just enjoy coming out here and playing. Big thanks to Llockett [McGregor] for always having this tournament, and the sponsors as well. It is really impressive to have them continuing to have this tournament year after year,” added Phillips.

As for his victory over Malcolm, Phillips said: “He always does a good job of making it to the finals. What I respect about him, he’s a competitor. He’s always trying something different when we play.”

The men’s Over-35 professional title went to Dwayne Pagon, who got the better of Jermaine Meikle in three sets.

Pagon took the first set 7-5 but lost the second 1-6 before overpowering Meikle 6-0 in the deciding set.

“It was a very competitive match and a close one, as you saw by the score line. Every time I play Jermaine it’s always a close match, he got the better of me last year and I came back this year to get the victory this time,” explained Pagon.

Seretse Bell recovered after losing the opening set 2-6 to dethrone Richard Deenah in the Men’s 35-and-Over Amateur section.

Bell won the second set 6-4 before completing the comeback in a super tie-breaker, 10-6.

The Women’s Amateur title went to Chandie James, who retained her crown with a 6-4, 2-6, 10-5 win over Kalila Morris.

Howard Ward claimed the Men’s Over-60 title after Marc Clarke, who won the first set, was forced to retire through injury in the second.

Despite a rain-affected weekend, tournament organiser Llockett McGregor was able to keep the matches on schedule.

“Well, I must say, rain has become a part of this event. But I am very happy with the turnout of this event. I want to say thank you to Levy Cheeks and Couples Swept Away for their continued support to this event.”