MARCUS Malcolm and Michaela Stephens captured the men’s and women’s singles titles, respectively, at the fifth staging of the 2017 General Accident Open Tennis Championships, which ended at the Liguanea Club in New Kingston on Monday night.

Malcolm, the fourth seed, was also winning this championship for the first time after defeating third seed Jeremy Miller in straight sets 7-5, 6-4. Malcolm collected $150,000 for his victory, while Miller earned $70,000 as the runner-up.

In the semi-finals played on Sunday, Malcolm defeated Matthew Rodriquez, who retired after losing the first set 7-5, while Miller pulled off a fighting win over second seed Dwayne Pagon 6-4, 7-6 (7-5 tiebreaker).

Meanwhile, Stephens, the top seed in women’s singles, was stretched to three sets before getting the better of second seed Jenna Harrison 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 to win the title.

Prior to the final, Stephens had beaten third-seeded Shea-Ann Kameka in straight sets 7-5, 6-1, while Harrison swept past fourth seed Kailey Chin in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, in their respective semi-finals.

The 29-year-old Malcolm said it was a very tough match, especially in the first set.

“The second set was another hard one as I had to come from 0-2 down to win the next two games to level at 2-2 before taking the lead in the fifth game 3-2,” Malcolm said.

Malcolm said he then took control of the set and went up 4-2, but Miller rallied to close at 5-4 after breaking.

“I had long wanted to win this tournament and I have always been to the semi-finals and quarter-finals over the five years of competition against Miller, who I have now beaten at least four times,” said Malcolm.

The 25-year-old Miller also admitted that it was a very competitive match as it could have gone either way.

“My opponent Malcolm stayed very steady and was more focused and he played very well. I am however, looking towards avenging the three losses to him at the Swept Away Tournament if we are both in the same half of the main draw,” Miller said.

The 15-year-old Stephens was elated to win this title for the first time.

“After winning the first set easily, I relaxed a bit in the second set and allowed Harrison to get back into the match as she began to gain her composure and her momentum to win the second set,” Stephens said.

“I however was still confident going into the third set and began to focus more, regained my composure, and got my shots going once again to score an easy win 6-1,” she added.

Top seed Dwayne Pagon retained his title in the Men’s Professional 35 years and over with a crushing 6-1, 6-0 win over second-seeded Yussuf Migoko. In the semi-finals Pagon beat Alan McNab 6-1, 6-0, while Migoko defeated Barry Hazel 6-2, 6-3.

Barry Hazel captured the Men’s Amateur 35 years and older singles title by coming from behind to defeat third seed Garth Darby 3-6, 7-6 (8-6 tie-breaker), 10-8 super tiebreaker.

Unseeded Tracey McNair defeated second seed Beverly Muir by default to capture the Ladies ‘B’ singles title.

The trophies and cash awards were as follows:

Men’s Open — Winner $150,000, runner-up $70,000, losing semi-finalist $40,000 each, losing quarter-finalists $20,000 each, players reaching the round-of-sixteen $10,000 each.

Women’s Open — winner $50,000, runner-up $20,000, and the two losing semi-finalists $12,500 each.

Men’s Professional 35 years and older — winner $70,000, runner-up $40,000 and the losing semi-finalists $20,000 each.

Sharon Donaldson, managing director of General Accident Insurance Limited, said her company was proud to be associated with the tournament for the fifth year.

“Our aim is to try and help in the promotion of local tennis is Jamaica, and we need more tournaments of this kind for future development of the players. We hope that one day we will be proud to see a Jamaican playing in the Wimbledon Open in England in the very near future,” Donaldson said.