Tennis: Vijay League

Tennis Club 2000 and The Blues in stalemate

SINCE its inception in 1999, the Vijay Construction-sponsored Vijay League has witnessed entertaining and exciting matches. This year's championship is no exception and last Friday, The Blues were held to a 3-3 draw by Tennis Club 2000.

Most spectators present at the Roche Caiman tennis courts felt that the game would end in a stalemate and they were proved to be right.

Despite the draw, Club 2000 were awarded two points for having won more games during the matches and The Blues one.

With the absence of the two first choice ladies' players – Anna Denousse of Tennis Club 2000 and The Blues' Jennifer Bonne – the two teams fielded two juniors.

In the men's singles, Andre Derjacques defeated The Blues' captain Carlo Lauro 2-0 (6-3 6-0) and Philip Brioche beat Dino Rigamonti on the same 2-0 (6-2 6-1) score for a 2-0 lead. The Blues' Marco Rigamonti prevailed over Antonio Sequenzia 2-0 (6-0 6-1) in an all-Italian affair to reduce the deficit to 1-2 before junior player Vanessa Low Hon gave Tennis Club 2000 back their two-match lead with a well-deserved 2-0 (6-2 6-3) win against Gloria Lauro.

Trailing Tennis Club 2000 by two matches, The Blues knew that they had to win both doubles at all costs to level the scores and they did put on a mini-revival.

In the men's doubles, the pair of  Marco Rigamonti and Gianni Torsi thumped the Tennis Club 2000 duo of Philip Brioche and Markhous Kanté 2-0 (6-4 6-0), while in the mixed doubles, Carlo Lauro and daughter Gloria made a perfect combination to defeat Derjacques and Low Hon 2-1 (6-4 3-6 7-5) after a tie-break.

The point collected by The Blues was their first, while Tennis Club 2000 have five after having won their first game against El Nino.

After last weekend's match, Aces lead the six-team standings with six points from two matches, followed by Tennis Club 2000 on five points from two matches, Grand Slam with three points from one match, The Blues with one point from two matches, Spitfire with 0 point from one match and El Nino with 0 point from two matches.