Phillips, Johnson cruise into tennis quarter-finals
TOP seeds Rowland ‘Randy’ Phillips and defending champion Damion Johnson cruised into the quarter-final round of the 2015 JN Men’s Open Singles Tennis Championship at the Liguanea Club in New Kingston on Wednesday night.
Phillips and Johnson easily disposed of their respective opponents in straight sets as they maintained their unbeaten run in not dropping a set.
Phillips defeated 10th seed Kristofer Martin 6-0, 6-2, while Johnson disposed of ninth-seeded Gawayne Cox 6-1, 6-3.
Johnson was happy with his progress.
“I think things are working my way and my fitness level is right were it should have been. As I expected, both Phillips and myself should meet in the final, and I am hoping to avenge my All-Jamaica defeat by him,” Johnson said.
Phillips will face sixth-seeded David Goldsmith in his quarter-final match-up, while Johnson meets the winner of the Yussuf Migoko and Nicholas Chung third-round match yesterday.
Meanwhile, Phillips said: “I am just taking each game as it approaches.”
In other Men’s Open singles matches, third-seeded Marcus Malcolm rushed past unseeded Daniel Gyles in straight sets 6-1, 6-2; eight-seeded Matthew Rodriquez beat Dane Vernon 6-1, 6-4; number six seed David Goldsmith pulled through in three sets against 15th seed Alan McNab 6-7 (5-7 tie-breaker), 6-1, 10-6 (super tie-breaker).
Fourth-seeded Dwayne Pagon eliminated unseeded Orick Angus in straight sets 6-0, 6-3; Nicholas Chung upset 14th seed Adam Harris in straight sets 7-5, 6-3; fifth-seeded Jeremy Miller came from a set down to eliminate Nicholas Malcolm Jr 2-6, 6-4, 20-7 (super tie-breaker).
In Women’s Open singles action, second-seeded Phadria Kepple brushed away unseeded Lexie Johnson in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while unseeded Hayley Mair knocked out Isis Miller 6-2, 3-6, 12-10 (super tie-breaker).
Stephen Shirley defeated Ricardo Chambers in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 in Men’s Class Two singles; Will Iton beat Lloyd Allen 6-4, 5-7, 10-4 (super tie-breaker) in Class Three men’s singles, Alric Sproul beat Michael Lyncook 6-2, 6-3 in Class Three men’s singles and Scott Jones beat Jaslin Salmon 6-2, 6-0.
Today’s matches are scheduled to begin at 4:00 pm.
— Gerald Reid