Cain, Dibbs are tops at 2020 All-Jamaica Junior Tennis Championships
TOP seeds Damani Cain and Katherine Dibbs were crowned boys’ and girls’ 18 and under singles champions, respectively, at the 2020 All-Jamaica Junior Tennis Championships which ended at the Eric Bell Tennis Centre on Tuesday.
The finals were scheduled for last Monday but pushed back to the following day due to heavy early morning showers.
This was the first event staged by Tennis Jamaica since the global shutdown of the sport in March as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, Dibbs stole the spotlight in the championships by winning three titles. The other two were in the girls’ 16 and under singles, and the girls’ 18 and under doubles titles.
She also won the most outstanding female player award at the championships.
Cain, who has been the island’s top junior player for the past four years, defeated unseeded Jairdan Gibbs in straight sets 6-3, 6-2.
In their respective semi-finals, Cain defeated unseeded John Azar 6-3, 6-1, while Gibbs knocked out unseeded Daniel Azar in straight sets 6-1, 6-3.
Cain, a student of Wolmer’s Boys’ School and coached by David Sanguinetti, will be playing in his last season as a junior player. He has dominated all of the four categories he contested in competitive tournaments — 18 and under, 16 and under, 14 and under, and 12 and under. He also has led his school in the National Schools Tennis Championships in winning the boys’ 18 and under team title three of the last four years.
Commenting on his performances throughout the five-day championships, Cain said: “I played well, but in the final I had to play the ball to Gibbs on his backhand, as he produced some well-placed shots with his forehand. I found that he was a little weak with his backhand.”
He said Gibbs raced to an early 3-0 lead before he won the next six games to take the first set 6-3. Cain took charge of the match early in the second set by going up 4-0 before Gibbs won the next game to make it 4-1. It was 5-1 in favour of Cain, who was broken in the seventh by Gibbs, but Cain went on to win 6-2 after Gibbs had double-faulted on his serve.
The 18 and under boys’ doubles was won by brothers Daniel and John Azar, who beat the pair of Cain and Joshua Graveney 8-6 in the round-robin competition.
Dibbs won the girls’ 18 and under singles final for the first time after several attempts. She made full use of the opportunity as defending champion and four-time winner Michaela Stephens was unable to defend her title as a result of the pandemic shutdown in Florida, where she currently resides.
Earlier, Dibbs won the girls’ 16 and under title, beating fourth-seed Thandie Sampson in straight sets 6-2, 6-0, before teaming with Eva Pinchas to win the girls’ 18 and under doubles.
“I am also happy and proud to have won three titles,” said Gibbs.
Fourth-seeded Daniel Azar fought off a stiff challenge from top-seed Delano Reeves before winning in three sets, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, after two hours and 45 minutes.
Daniel Azar also won the most outstanding male player award.
In their respective semi-finals, Azar knocked out second-seed Jason Duval 7-5, 6-3, while Reeves eliminated third-seed Jairdan Gibbs 7-5, 3-6, and 10-1 in the 10-point tiebreaker set.
Kaiel Casserly, the top seed, won the boys’ 14 and under singles title by defeating second-seed Jamar Parkinson in straight sets 7-5, 6-4.
In semi-final action, Casserly beat third-seeded Danil Moe 6-1, 6-2, while Parkinson won 3-6, 6-3, 10-7 in the tie break set.
The girls’ 14 and under singles that was played on a round-robin format was won by Gabriel Christian, who won all her three matches, beating Eva Pinchas 6-3, 6-1, Kyra Therman 6-0, 6-0, and Shaddae Parkinson 6-3, 6-0.
Second seed Mikale Williams won the boys’ 12 and under singles title ahead of top seed Leo Cuff 8-1. Williams beat Zachery Dwyer, and Cuff defeated Nazrie Robinson 8-7 (7-4 tiebreaker) in the semi-finals.
Kajaun Haughton and Michael Bradford defeated Nazrie Robinson and Phillip Lambert 8-1 to win the boys’ 12 and under doubles title. Emma Perez won the Under-12 girls’ singles played on a round-robin format. Zia Graham was second.
Tournament director David Sanguinetti said, despite the odds, the championships was a great success with 93 entrants.
“Anyone entering the venue would have to abide by the protocols established by the Government. Hands had to be sanitised, wearing of mask, social distancing and checking of temperatures,” he said.
Sanguinetti added that the player to watch for the future is Nyle Barnes, who made her first appearance in 18 and under singles and made it to the final.
He has been the coach of Barnes for the past six months, and said she has shown great improvement in her play, and he thinks she has a great future ahead of her.