Flawless Boev, Lewis triumph

Michaela Boev and Hayden Lewis crowned themselves women's and men's champions, respectively, on yesterday's final day of action in the NCB Capital Markets Tennis Open, held over five days at the Liguanea Club, after both registered straight-set wins.

Boev completed a flawless run in the championship as, for the third time in as many games, she registered a 6-0, 6-0 win, this time to get the better of Jamaica-born Simone Vranov-Brown in the final, to capture the women's title in a match which lasted for 50 minutes.

Barbados' Lewis needed one hour and 20 minutes to see off Nikita Kryvonos of the United States 6-3, 6-2 to claim the men's crown and the US$6,000 prize money.

First-time achievement

The Women's Tennis Association's 839-ranked Boev, who pocketed US$1,000 without dropping a game, was achieving such a feat for the first time in her career.

"It feels good; I stayed focus not only through the entire week, but every set and every game," the 20-year-old Belgian shared.

"Maybe it shows that I am pretty consistent, so I am happy to not have lost any game," she added.

Though acknowledging that Boev is a very tough competitor, Vranov-Brown believes she could have given a much better showing had it not been for an injury she sustained in the semi-final.

"I think I could have played a lot better if I didn't focus on the injury or if I had the injury taken care of a lot better," Vranov-Brown reasoned.

Lewis revealed that his men's match was much more competitive than the final score suggests.

"What I did well was to play well on the important points, so that was really the difference in the match today," Lewis explained.

"The score may sound easy, but it wasn't an easy match. I had to definitely focus and think it through," he added.

Kryvonos was gracious in defeat.

"Hayden played really well and I could have played better, but I just didn't get my rhythm today," he noted.

In an exhibition match that punctuated the finals, Tennis Jamaica's president Aubyn Hill and vice-president John Bailey teamed up to get the better of sponsor's duo - ATL Autohaus' brand manager for Volkswagen, Adam Harris and NCB's branch manager for the Old Harbour branch, Damion Reid, 6-1, 6-2.