Johnson coasts into quarter-final
Published:Saturday | August 28, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Adrian Frater, News Editor
Western Bureau:
Damion Johnson, the tournament's number-one seed, coasted into the quarter-final round of the four-day 2010 Iberostar Tennis Classic yesterday, when he carved out a 6-1, 6-3 win over Alexander Adams in their round-of-16 matchup.
Johnson will match skills against visiting professional, Steve Coleman, in one of today's quarter-final matches, as they both seek a slot in the tournament's semi-final.
Coleman, who was slated to play McKoy Malcolm yesterday, advanced without taking the court as his opponent turned up 17 minutes late and was disqualified.
Exciting match expected
"This clash between Johnson and Coleman should be something special as both players are adamant that they won't lose," said tournament director Simon Casserly. "We are expecting a very close and exciting game."
In other round-of-16 games yesterday, number-two seed Elvis Henry served notice that he should not be slighted, brushing aside the challenge of Mario Malcolm 6-0, 6-1; Montego Bay's Kirk Bouland upstaged Conroy Crumbie 6-4, 6-0; Marcus Malcolm defeated Clive Foster 6-2, 7-6; and Nicholas Malcolm brushed aside Frank Harris 6-1, 6-1.
In another of today's match-ups, the exciting Bouland will meet Andre Burrell.
In yesterday's action, Burrell was severely tested by Richard Deonah, before coming away with a good 7-5, 6-4 win.
In the women's section, Shadae Findlay, who was celebrating her birthday, was most impressive, registering two good wins over Linda Dear (8-1) and Whitney Irving (8-1) to march confidently into the tournament's third round of the women's Open.
Number one seed and defending champion, Lisa Chin, was quite efficient in advancing to the third round, scoring an easy 8-2 win over Megan Styles. Sicquana Sinclair also moved forward with an 8-5 win over Shelita Haughton.
The tournament, which features four categories in the men's Open, men's classes two and three, and ladies amateur open, carries a $200,000 prize tag. The male champion will walk away with $80,000.