Chambers takes tennis title in stirring encounter

Spectators were treated to tennis of the highest quality as number one seed Hannah Chambers defeated Gabrielle Leslie 2-1 to retain her crown as champion of the Insurance Corporation of Barbados Limited (ICBL) Nationals Open.

The 16-year-old Chambers and her opponent  Leslie were outstanding as they both played their hearts out on court. But in the end, it was the St. Michael School student Chambers who prevailed 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 and captured her second consecutive title at this level.

Played yesterday afternoon at the National Tennis Centre in Wildey, President of the Barbados Tennis Association Dr Raymond Forde, President of the Barbados Olympic Association Sandra Osborne and representatives of title sponsor ICBL got to witness a fantastic women’s final.

During the post-match interview, Chambers who is coached by Sydney Lopez told Barbados TODAY it was her determination to succeed that led her to another national title.

“I played pretty well. Gabby is a really good player as well so I just had to play my best and see what happened. I worked really hard to get where I am and I just had to play my game and it worked out for me really well,” Chambers explained.

Admitting that she has been having trouble with her wrist which was noticeable during the third and decisive set of the final when she had to seek medical assistance, Chambers did not let that stop her.

She played like a true champion with well-executed backhand shots. She put away volleys that were also top-notch and her forehand were absolutely crisp. Powerful in stature, Chambers has the ability to keep up well on the court, chasing after almost every ball and being able to effectively put them away. It is a sign that Barbados may have found their version of a Serena Williams.

This is not to discredit the wonderful efforts of 17-year-old Leslie who put up a good fight during the keenly contested women’s final. Leslie, the number four seed for this tournament, drew first blood when she broke Chambers in the second game of the opening set and held serve to go up 3-0.

But if there was any indication that spectators who turned out for the 4.p.m. clash were in for a good deal of competitive tennis was when Chambers then held serve and made an amazing comeback to go up 4-3.  From there the scores were tied 4-4 and Chambers was the one who then advanced and captured a 5-4 lead en route to serve for the opening set. But because both players were guilty of not holding serve, Leslie equalised 5-5, and Chambers broke again and took control at 6-5 and this time made no mistake to close it out.

Despite it being a modest crowd, it was the most people seen at a local tennis match so far this year. Leslie refused to give up and took a 2-0 lead at the start of the second set.

Again we had a battle on our hands as Chambers rallied well to keep up with Leslie and the two traded those blistering cross-court forehand shots that were just beautiful to watch.

Chambers came from behind and levelled the game 3-3, but Leslie refused to let the second set slip from her grip. She went up 5-3 and even though Chambers managed to score two more points within the second set which was a similar re-enactment to the first, Leslie staved off the challenge and equalized the match 1-1.

During the match Leslie had some forehand winners down the line that had Chambers unresponsive at times. One of the things Leslie also did very well was to keep Chambers on her toes by switching up her shot selections.

So impressive were the shots played from both Chambers and Leslie during the match that each good selection was met with a stamp of approval by the audience who applauded. Chambers’ serves, in particular, were very thunderous at times and that combined with her ability to return just as effectively had Leslie in trouble.

During the crucial third set, there was a brief pause as Chambers up 1-0 had to receive medical assistance on her right hand. After a couple of minutes, she appeared to be fine and play resumed.

In fact, that was a testament to the quality and talent of Chambers who despite being in discomfort was able to carry on with the momentum and never looked back.

She progressed to a 4-1 lead and Leslie at that stage tried changing her racquet to see if that would work in her favour. But nothing was really going well for her at that moment and each error she made was met with agonisings groans from her supporters.

Yes, Chambers captured the title but it is safe to say in the end Barbados’ tennis won as the future looks bright for women’s tennis.

The men also took to the court as number one seed Russell Moseley came up against defending champion Stephen Slocombe Jr. in the final.

Slocombe, the number four seed for this tournament won the first set 6-3 and Moseley, a former Barbados Davis Cup player, needed to produce something special in the second set to stay alive in the match.

But that was put on pause when the rain came down and cancelled tennis for the rest of the night. At that stage, Moseley was serving at 2-0 and had the advantage. Play was expected to resume this afternoon weather permitting.

morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb