Russell Moseley won his fourth straight title and second of the year when he defeated Seanon Williams in the final of the Courtesy Garage Tennis Championships last week.
Moseley triumphs once again
7/3/2012
By Alan Harris
It took Russell Moseley less than two hours to cement his place atop the local rankings when he defeated Davis Cup player Seanon Williams 6-3, 6-4 in the final of the Courtesy Garage Tennis Championships at the Ocean View Tennis Club last Friday.
It was Moseley’s fourth straight title and second of the year following his triumph at the Pine Hill Dairy Tennis Championships in January. Before that, the former Davis Cup player had beaten Williams in the final of the Race of Champions tournament in December 2011 after winning the BNB Tennis Championships a month earlier.
“What can I say, I had a really good tournament this time around,” said an introspective Moseley.
“My strength is in my return game and I recently adjusted my position on the court to make it that more consistent. It made life a lot easier for me against a big server like Seanon.”
His supreme court coverage and heavy groundstrokes further frustrated Williams throughout the contest.
“I just stayed aggressive for the whole match and I connected on my big shots,” added Moseley.
A brief rain delay at the start of the second set seemed to benefit Williams, with the 21 year-old breaking Moseley twice for an early 3-1 lead. But Moseley, with his iconic dreadlocks flailing away, refocused to break Williams’ serve twice and in so doing set up an easy march to victory.
"Recently, I haven’t played under any pressure and the first set went pretty quickly,” said Williams. “At the start of the second set I managed to turn things around but I lost my serve twice and that was it for me. In the closing stages Russell was on fire. He had a really good day."
Looking to the future, Moseley said he wanted to reclaim his spot on the national team, while Williams disclosed his intentions of turing pro.
“I played Davis Cup tennis for six years and it would be great to get back on the team,” said Moseley. “I’m playing really well right now and to make a Davis Cup team, especially to play an international tie in Barbados, would be a dream come true.”
Williams expects to be in Mexico next month where he will play a handful of ATP Futures tournaments, a major stepping stone towards becoming a professional tennis player.
“I’ve been going through the motions recently and I’m serious about it now,” he said. “I also learnt a lot of valuable lessons from playing Davis Cup tennis. Hopefully I can build on those experiences.”
Amongst the Ladies, top-ranked junior Melena Lopez secured the Women’s Open title with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-4 victory over the vastly more experienced Donna Gibbs.
In the junior ranks, Ajani King continued his impressive run by taking the Boy’s Under-18 title with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Simon Lewis. King has also advanced to the final of the Boy’s Under-16 tournament where he will face Gavin Hutchinson.
In the Boy’s Under-14 division, Andrew Symmonds defeated Xavier Lawrence 6-4, 6-3 for the title.
