Younge, Squires and Hickerson impress at 60th Independence Tennis Open

The 60th Independence Tennis Open is heating up at the National Park Tennis Courts, with just one day of play remaining after a packed schedule on Friday across the Open, Junior, and Novice categories.

In the Men’s Open round of 16, Gerald Scotland secured a comfortable 6-2 victory over Leyland Leacock to advance, while Kevin Matai booked his quarterfinal spot with a matching 6-2 win against Akil Gittens. Leacock quickly bounced back in the Men’s Over-35 category, claiming a 6-1 win over Joffrey Bonnet.

In other Over-35 action, Phillip Squires defeated Benjettan Osborne 6-2, and Martin Campbell mirrors that scoreline with a 6-2 victory over Harry Wu.

Competition was equally intense in the Novice division, where S. Henry edged out David Cheong 6-4 in a highly competitive men’s match, while J. Harry dominated the women’s side with a 6-0 win over Joella Serieux.

The junior categories delivered some of the day’s most exciting tennis.

In the girls’ division, Breyanna Younge put on a spectacular performance, digging deep to win consecutive, hard-fought 7-5 matches against both Khloe Andrew and Liza Singh.

In the Girls’ Under-12 category, Monalisa Graham started strong with a 6-3 win over Denesia Boston before falling by that same 6-3 scoreline to Israbella Grannum. Meanwhile, the Boys’ Under-12 division saw Zion Hickerson defeat Yoshua Mangru 6-1, while Hayden Chan blanked Rahul Narayan 6-0.

The tournament is set for an exciting finish as the 60th Independence Tennis Open concludes this Sunday at the National Park Tennis Courts.