Johnson, Pagon capture JN Open singles titles
BY GERALD REID
Observer writer
DAMION Johnson and Sasha Pagon captured the men’s and women’s singles titles, respectively, at the 2014 Jamaica National (JN) Open Tennis Championships which ended at the Liguanea Club in New Kingston last Saturday night.
Both top seeds proved devastating against their opponents, winning in straight sets in one-sided affairs.
Johnson easily brushed away second seeded Daniel Harris 6-1, 6-3 in 90 minutes, while Pagon whipped unseeded Franchesca Chin 6-1, 6-1.
For winning the men’s singles title, Johnson walked away with the first prize cash award of $200,000 and the championship trophy, while Harris collected $100,000 as the runner-up and a trophy. It was also the second straight year Johnson had beaten Harris in the final.
Meanwhile, Pagon collected $60,000 and the winner’s trophy with Chin picking up $30,000 and a trophy.
Johnson said that after winning the first set easily, he decided to relax a little to allow the match to be interesting, but it did not work that way. “I took control of the match from the start and all went my way as I was not in any problems as the shots were working nicely.
“For any local player to beat me they will have to be very fit and patient and these young players should train hard. I used experience and beat them all,” said the 29-year-old Johnson.
Harris said it was not working out for him as his racquet was giving problems and it played on his mind preventing him from doing anything right.
“My services were off many times, but I could have played much better if I had another racquet, as the one I used had a broken string,” he explained.
He added that Johnson is a very solid and strong player and he is hard to beat. “My game was very poor, as my shots were off and I produced too many mistakes, including many double faults.”
The 19-year-old Tennessee University College student hopes to come back next year and win the tournament. He is ranked number eight, but hopes to move further up in the singles ranking.
Women’s singles champion Pagon said it was great to come out victorious, after a five-year absence and six months after the birth of her son.
“Although I won the women singles, I had a few tough matches against these younger players who are in their teens. I used my experience to get the better of my opponents as I am still training hard,” said the 37-year-old.
The men’s doubles open was won by the pair of Damion Johnson and Blaise Bicknell, who defeated Kristofer Martin and Kyle Martin 1-6, 6-3 (10-6 super tie-breaker).
Unseeded Zane Robinson captured the Class Two men’s singles with a 6-3, 6-2 win over unseeded Lloyd Nelson, while the Class Three men’s singles was won by fourth-seeded Andrez Coy, who defeated Michael Lyncook 7-6 (7-5) and 7-5.
The losing semi-finalists in the men’s singles picked up $50,000 each, while the players reaching the round of 16 collected $12,500. The losing semi-finalists in the women’s singles earned $15,000 each.