Tennis final between Lewis and King

By Morissa Lindsay

Simon Lewis won the two best of three contest in straight sets over Kai Owen to reach the final where he will play Adam King who advanced after his semifinal opponent Dylan Hall defaulted in last night’s all-important match in controversial fashion.

With the semifinals played yesterday at the National Tennis Centre in the ongoing 2022 Barbados Tennis Association Open Senior and Nationals tournament, Lewis won 6-0, 6-1 against Owen but the other match to determine who will play the final was a battle off the court as opposed to on it.

It all began when semifinalist Hall informed the tournament organizers that he did not see his name on the schedule sent out by the tournament organizers since Sunday, October 2nd and therefore did not come mentally prepared to play. Hence, he did not take the court against King even though the organizers said that they sent out the specific date and time that the semifinals would be contested, which was Wednesday, October 5, at 7 p.m.

Hall, while he did not see his name on the schedule, was present last night at the Tennis Centre where he spent time practising. There were varying opinions on the matter and many were of the view that since Hall was present at the facility, he should have played despite not seeing his name on the schedule and taking into consideration the semifinals were scheduled for that particular day. However, Hall maintained a firm stance that his name was not on the schedule and therefore he did not show up to play and there was nothing that could change that.

Simon Lewis won his semifinal match against Kai Owen yesterday in the Barbados Tennis Association Open Senior and Nationals tournament.

Tournament coordinator Damien Applewhaite further clarified the situation from the organizers view point. “We would have sent out the order of play on Sunday which has the matches for Monday and Tuesday. The first day had the quarterfinals listed and then the second day we would have had the men’s semifinals in the time slot that is supposed to be on the second day. So, when the quarter finals were played (Monday), the second day (Tuesday) it rained and we said to the players that the matches that were supposed to be on the second day would now be played on the Wednesday which is last night.”

Applewhaite added: “Once you would have won your quarterfinals you would know you would be in the semifinals. So, Dylan looked at the order of play for the second day
which would have been the semifinals and did not see his name and assumed he was not playing.”

Adam King reached the final of the Barbados Tennis Association Open Senior and Nationals tournament after his opponent defaulted.

The BTA reached out to official representatives from the Tennis Association of Trinidad and Tobago officials as they have very highly qualified referees and umpires in the Caribbean region for further clarity on the matter and they confirmed that King won by default.

After Hall decided he was not playing, he was given a grace period of 15 minutes to change his mind and after a few BTA members tried to intervene and persuade him otherwise, King who was on court sitting awaiting the final decision was eventually called off and awarded the match.

Meanwhile, in the lone semifinal played, Lewis was too dominant for 16-year-old Owen, a student of Harrison College who tried his best but just struggled with his returns.

Thus, the men’s final scheduled for Saturday, October 8th at 6 p.m. will be between Lewis and young King who has had a number of byes in the tournament including last night when he did not have to break sweat. morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb