Mactaggart, Madu come out on top in boys and girls finals
- Simba French
- 12 hrs ago
- 0
Bahamian Patrick Mactaggart, center, won the boys singles title at the Junkanoo Bowl, which wrapped up on Wednesday at the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association’s (BLTA) National Tennis Center.
Bahamian Tatyana Madu, center, won the girls singles title at the Junkanoo Bowl, which wrapped up on Wednesday at the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association’s (BLTA) National Tennis Center. SIMBA FRENCH
Bahamians Patrick Mactaggart and Tatyana Madu came out as the boys and girls singles champions respectively at the Junkanoo Bowl that wrapped up yesterday at the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association’s (BLTA) National Tennis Center.
The under-14 tournament, which was sponsored by Custom Computers, is a Central American and Caribbean Tennis Confederation (COTECC) event. It began on Saturday.
“It was very windy and the ball was going all over the place and it was super tough. The wind was very tricky,” Mactaggart said.
In the second set, Mactaggart went up 4-1 before Kirton won the next game to bring the score to 4-2 in favor of the Bahamian. Mactaggart had three chances to close out the match at 5-2, but Kirton battled back to pull to within 5-3.
“I was starting to get a little nervous because this means a lot to me, but I was able to come away with the win,” Mactaggart said.
Mactaggart said he will continue training and preparing for upcoming tournaments.
In boys doubles, Kirton and his partner, Curacao’s Brandon Bridgewater, took down Mactaggart and Great Britain’s Alec Hooper in straight sets, 6-3 and 7-6(6).
In girls singles, Madu played on court number four and was locked in as she took down Trinidad and Tobago’s Makeda Bain in straight sets, 6-0 and 6-3. It was an earlier than expected match as it got underway at 8 a.m., but Madu was able to adjust.
“It was super windy with some gusts coming through. I had to stay consistent and keep the ball in. I could not go for too many hard serves, and I had to put a lot of spin on everything but once I kept it in, it went well,” said Madu.
Madu, who said she loves to collect trophies, fought back to win the first set 7-6(3) in her semifinal match against Curacao’s Keziah Fluonia. She went up 4-1 in the second set, but Bain won the next two games. Madu then ended it at 6-3 to complete the straight sets win.
“What changed besides the wind was that I tried to stay calmer and stick to being consistent and not try to go for too much,” Madu said.
She is looking to stay consistent as she goes on to play more tournaments.
After beating Bain, the two teamed up for the doubles final and went against Bahamian Briana Houlgrave and Fluonia. Madu and Bain got a 6-7(5), 7-6(6) and 10-4 comeback win.
The tournament follows a week of intensive training at the first regional training camp for English-speaking countries, during which top players took part.