THIRD-SEEDED Felipe Sarrasague from Argentina defeated second-seed Jamaican-born Blaise Bicknell in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 in the final to capture the 12th staging of the JN Bank Open Tennis Championships that ended at Liguanea Club in New Kingston on Saturday.

The 22-year-old Argentine played brilliantly throughout the seven-day championship, and in the final in particular, weathered the attacking shots from the 18-year-old Bicknell to pull off a stunning win in one hour and 45 minutes.

The Argentine was playing in the championships and in Jamaica for the first time.

Sarrasague walked away with the men’s singles trophy and the first prize cash award of $200,000, while Bicknell collected his runner-up trophy and prize money of $100,000.

Sarrasague said he was very happy with his triumph over Bicknell, and said the championships had given him more confidence as he prepares for tournaments on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) circuit in January.

Meanwhile, Bicknell said he did not know what went wrong, but appeared to have lost his focus during the first set.

In the first set of the men’s open final, Bicknell held serve and won the first game before he broke his opponent in the second game for a 2-0 lead. He won the third game to go up 3-0 and the fourth for a quick 4-0 lead.

The Argentine managed to break Bicknell in the fifth game and held his own in the sixth that deuced four times, but still trailed 2-4. Bicknell’s early success faded somewhat, as Sarrasague capitalised on any mistake produced by his opponent, as he won the next six games to win the first set 6-4.

Bicknell started well in the second set by holding his serve, but Sarrasague held his nerves to make it 1-1. Bicknell went up 2-1 in the third game, but his opponent levelled at 2-2.

For the next six games, Bicknell felt the power and the consistent plays of Sarrasague, and the Argentine broke Bicknell in the fifth to take the lead 3-2. From then, it became a one-sided affair as Bicknell could do little to contain Sarrasague and lost the next three games to be beaten 6-3 and the match 2-0.

Both Sarrasague and Bicknell are scheduled to play on the ATP Futures circuit next month.

In the semi-finals, Sarrasague knocked out defending champion and top-seed Rowland “Randy” Phillips in three sets, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, while Bicknell eliminated ninth seed Felipe Osses-Konig 6-1, 7-5.

And unseeded Javaughn Nembhard defeated fourth-seed Barry Hazel in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 to win the Men’s Class Two singles title. Hazel gained a walkover against Chris Whitfield, while Nembhard knocked out thirdseed Ricardo Chambers 6-3, 6-4.

Unseeded Sean Martin won the Men’s Class Three singles title after coming from a set down to beat Ricardo Livingston 4-6, 6-3, 10-6 in the super tie-breaker set. In the semi-finals, Martin beat thirdseed Michael Lyncock 3-6, 7-5, and 10-5 in the super tie-breaker set, while Stuart Allen eliminated secondseed Richard McNair 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.

Hurdler-turned-tennis player Brigitte Foster-Hylton fought off the challenge of secondseed Racquel Nevins to win the Ladies B singles title in straight sets 7-5, 6-3. This was her second straight singles title this season.

In the semi-finals, topseed Foster-Hylton gained a walkover against Stacey Stratton, while Nevins put away Tracey McNair 6-0, 6-2.

— Gerald Reid