Goldsmith rallies to take Bounty Invitational Tennis Classic

Former All-Jamaica junior and senior champion David Goldsmith rekindled some of his youthful tennis form yesterday to secure the inaugural Bounty Invitational Tennis Classic, which was held at Couples Tower Isle.

Goldsmith defeated another former All-Jamaica junior and senior champion and number one seed, Damion Johnson, 2-6, 6-3, 10-5, in the men’s open final to claim the $100,000 first-place cash prize and the champion’s trophy.

The Ocho Rios native, who , earlier in the day, had defeated Matthew Rodriquez to get to the final, had to dig deep to come away with the victory as Johnson looked imperious early in the contest by taking the first set.

A confident Johnson, who took care of Nicholas Chung in his semi-final, also went up 2-1 in the second set, but Goldsmith started to find his groove and utilised his big booming serve and volley to good effect to bring the set level at 3-3 before pulling away to seal the second set to even things up.

In the Super tiebreaker, Goldsmith was by then in the ascendency and took a commanding 8-3 lead before closing out the final.

“I thought I played really good tennis this weekend, and I really prepared well for this tournament, and I have to thank God for the victory. My trusted serve and volley was on point as I handled the net well as it was a tough match, but I had to find another gear to come away with the win,” said Goldsmith.

Number one seed Johnson, who also hails from Ocho Rios, congratulated the unseeded Goldsmith for securing the victory in what was a great weekend of tennis.

“I played some good tennis as well but 15 minutes of distraction made the difference. I lost my focus at an important part of the game during the 10-point tiebreak, and that cost me the match.”

In the meantime, number two seed Megan Skyers secured the ladies’ amateur title following a 7-5, 6-2 win over Chandie James. The men’s Class Two title went to Michael Sutherland, who defeated Seretse Bell 6-1, 6-3 in the final.

The men’s Class Three final, which was played at Couples San Souci, saw Kenrick Picknight getting by Brian Robinson. The mixed doubles title went to Matthew Rodriques and Seraton-Kimloy Wint.

Tournament director Simon Casserly said the tournament was an overall success with plans already being put in place to stage the next event.

“We are very pleased with the results as it has exceeded our expectations. The quality of play was very high as we were able to get the best players from Kingston, Montego Bay, and Ocho Rios and two ladies from Mandeville to participate. The camaraderie among the players was excellent, and it was good to see two Ocho Rios players playing the final,” Casserly said