Damani Cain stars at All-Jamaica Junior Tennis Championships
Damani Cain, Michael Stephens, and Keyondre Clarke captured singles titles in the respective age groups at the 2018 Serge All-Jamaica Junior Tennis Championships, which ended at Eric Bell Tennis Centre recently.
However, the player who stole the limelight was 16-year-old Cain from Wolmer’s Boys’ School, who captured three titles — the boys’ 18s and 16s singles, and the boys’ 18s doubles.
Seeded at number one in the boys’ 18s singles, Cain defeated second-seeded Romeo Edwards, also from Wolmer’s Boys’ School, in straight sets 6-1, 6-2 recently.
Earlier, he had won the boys’ 16s title by defeating second seed Keyondre Clarke in straight sets 6-3, 6-1.
His third title came in the boys’ 18s doubles when he partnered with his Wolmer’s teammate Edwards to defeat the pair of Mario Campbell, also from Wolmer’s, and Joshua Graveney, in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.
Cain said he was pleased with his achievements.
“He (Edwards) was playing some good shots in the early part of the match, but I decided to stop play on the defensive side and produce more attacking play — which I won very comfortably.”
Michaela Stephens was not to be outdone as the 15-year-old, who attends Liberty Academy, captured two titles — the girls’ 18s singles and doubles.
Stephens came back from a set down to beat second seed Jenna Harrison 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-2 to win the girls’ 18s singles title. She paired with Harrison, who was seeded at one in the girls’ 18 doubles, to defeat the pair of Katherine Dibbs and Alyssa James 6-2, 6-2.
Stephens said it was a very tough match as she was a little nervous in the first set. “I was not playing my usual attacking game as I was too much on the defensive.
“I know Harrison is a very good player and she was playing some great shots, so I decided to step up the pace in the second set by attacking the ball and began to get the better of her to win both sets and the match,” Stephens said.
Top seed Keyondre Clarke captured the boys’ 14s singles title by crushing second-seeded Jason Duval in straight sets 6-0, 6-0. In the semi-finals, Clarke had defeated Jairdan Gibbs 6-2, 6-2, while Duval knocked out unseeded Matthew James in straight sets 6-3, 6-3.
Second seed Kaiel Casserly captured the boys’ 12s singles title by defeating top seed Matthew James in three sets. He had to come from a first-set 1-6 loss before winning the next two sets 6-2, 6-4 to clinch the title.