AMERICANS Richard Del Nunzio and Blair Shankle were crowned Boys and Girls 18 and Under singles champions, respectively, at the 2011 International Tennis Federation (ITF) Jamaica Junior Tournament which ended at the Eric Bell Tennis Centre yesterday.

Top seed Del Nunzio had to work extremely hard and had come from a set down before beating fourth-seed Austin Siegel, also of the United States, in three hard-fought and exciting sets, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4 tie-breaker), 6-3 in the Boys 18 and Under singles final.

Meanwhile, 16-year-old Shankle easily defeated Johnnise Renaud of the United States (USA) in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 to capture the Girls 18 and Under singles final.

Both Del Nunzio and Siegel, who won their semi-finals the previous day in three sets, had a keenly fought duel from the opening set. They were level 1-1 before Siegel broke Del Nunzio in the third game to take the lead and held his serve in the next to gain a 3-1 lead.

While Siegel was playing some fine shots, especially down the line, De Del Nunzio was having a tough time in lifting his game and to counter shots that went in the corner of the baseline. He broke Siegel to close at 3-2.

The two right-handers were playing from the back of the baseline and on a number occasions produced several long rallies. Siegel made it 4-2 from his serve, but Del Nunzio pulled back to close at 4-3.

Nunzio tried to keep up to the pace and shots of Siegel, but won the deuce during is serve, which broke Nunzio to win the first set 6-3.

With Siegel playing a steadier game than Nunzio, the former won the second set taking a 2-1 lead. His shots began coming into play especially his back hand that gave him trouble in the first set.

It was a ding-dong duel between both Americans with the scores level at 3-3 and 4-4. So tightly fought the set was the scores were again locked at 4-4, 5-5. Siegel held his serve to take the lead 6-5, and was just one game away from clinching the match.

Nunzio needed to win his serve to take the set in a tie-breaker, which he did to make the scores 6-6. He led 3-1 before Siegel made it 3-3. The top seed won four points to win the tie-breaker 7-4 and tied the match 1-1.

Both players held serve in the third and final set, but it was Nunzio who picked up his game tremendously and his shots began taking a toll on Siegel who began moving much slower that in the first two sets.

Nunzio led 3-1 and went on to unleash several brilliant passing shots that Siegel failed to return as he began moving slower and slower on the court as if he was getting tired. Nunzio began to capitalise on his slow approach and went on to win the third set 6-3 and the match 2-1.

Zunzio said that in the first set his game was not there and he had a tough time lifting it especially where his back-handed shots were not working.

“In the second set my game began to improve and my back-handed shots were flowing much better. We had some good rallies and I went on to win the tie-breaker,” Nunzio said.

The American said in the third set he took complete charge and saw that Siegel was looking tired and a little cramp to his legs and he eventually started to give up. The game lasted for two hours and forty eight minutes,

Meanwhile, the Girls 18 and Under singles final was not as exciting as the boys as the powerfully built Blair Shankle easily beat her compatriot Johnnise Renaud in just one hour.

After an even start where the two were locked at 2-2, Blair took complete total control of the match.

From then onwards, it was all Shankle who rushed through the first set 6-3 and easily conquered her opponent and brushed away the 15-year-old in the second set 6-1.

Shankle said she was very pleased with her game. “I had to change the pace in the first set with a lot of spins to get the better of Renaud,” Shankle said.

The 16-year-old American said she will be playing in the Canadian Open in late August and hope to qualify for the United States Open Junior Championships.