On Sunday, April 30th 2023, a delegation of thirteen Anguilla Tennis Academy (ATA) students lead by coaches Tristin Rogers and Calyde Hughes travelled to St. Martin for the 2nd round of the Friendly Islands Junior Tennis Unification Cup Tournament, hosted at the Marigot Tennis Club (St. Martin).
The Tennis Club led by Coach Juergen welcomed the coaches and tennis teams from both Anguilla and Dutch St. Maarten. Coach Timothy Rozenblad Tennis Program (St. Maarten) brought a contingent of nine players along with supporters. The host team, Marigot Tennis Club was represented by eleven players.
The atmosphere was filled with excitement as parents and supporters cheered for their respective tennis clubs during the competitive matches. The players also demonstrated excellent sportsmanship throughout the tournament.
The tournament started out with the singles matches. The younger players competing with the red dot, orange dot, and green dot balls, played their matches simultaneously on two courts and the high performance players competed in their single matches on four courts.
The doubles matches were played in the afternoon followed by the trophy presentation at 3:30 PM. At the end of round 2 tournament, Anguilla was victorious with a total of twenty-seven points. St. Martin (French) team placed second with thirteen points and St. Maarten (Dutch) third with a total of seven points.
ATA Director, Tristin Rogers said, “I was very impressed with the increased level of competitiveness in the players from the first round to the second round. Players were more focused and carried themselves professionally.”
Founder of the Anguilla Tennis Academy and brainchild of the Unification Cup Tournament, Mr. Mitchelle Lake, praised the Anguilla contingent for their victory in round two of the tournament and extended gratitude to all the coaches for their hard work in making the Friendly Islands Junior Tennis Unification Cup Tournament a success thus far. The next event in the series will be held at the Anguilla Tennis Academy on September 23rd 2023.
St. Martin tennis coach, Juergen, who hosted the event, summed up the tournament by saying, “We had a successful second round! Many thanks to all, players, coaches and supporters for a wonderful event at the Marigot Tennis Club. Congratulations to the Anguilla Team for winning round two. All the children displayed great sportsmanship on the court. We are looking forward to the next challenge.”
