Russell Moseley has done it again. The discarded Davis Cup veteran won yet another singles title, having come from a set and a break down before successfully defending his men’s open title of the Pine Hill Juice Kristen Lopez Tennis Tournament at the Ocean View courts.
Playing against St Lucian Akeem Gustave, the top-seeded Moseley surprisingly lost a lopsided first set until rallying for a 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory in this week’s title match.
It marked the end to a stirring finals run from Gustave, who took out 2016 champion Andrew Thornton in a thrilling three-set semi-final showdown.
And Moseley nearly fell victim too after Gustave got out to an absolute flier by expertly mixing timely aggression with gritty defence in a near flawless first set.
Gustave even went up a quick break in the second set after Moseley lost serve to go down 2-1.
But Moseley got the break right back before breaking Gustave again when the St Lucian was serving to stay in the set at 4-5.
“Once I got the break I began to settle down and get more comfortable on the court,” explained Moseley.
“I made sure to make all my returns in that game, didn’t give him much pace to work with and was extremely consistent in that game. Once I built a lead in that game I mixed in some attacking shots to break serve and take the second set 6-4.
“I kept mixing attacking play with slower balls, varying heights, speeds and spins. Then in the third set his consistency level also seemed to drop and I took advantage of some errors from my opponent and made some good plays at the net,” he added.
As a result Moseley went up an early break for 3-0 before Gustave promptly lost serve again to fall behind 5-1.
He did manage to save two match points until Moseley closed out the match with a short slice. (JM)
