Latest News
USA’s Cariov, Phillips battle tough conditions to advance
May 14, 2024
United States of America's Teodore Cariov and Joseph Phillips were among several international players who fought through tough conditions yesterday to progress in the International Tennis Federation's World Tennis M15000 tournament at the Eric Bell Centre.
Cariov had a dominant 6-4, 6-1 victory over Australia's Jera Staley, while Phillips was in form against countryman Joshua Portnoy, whom he defeated 6-2, 6-4.
According to Cariov, he waited for the opportunity to pounce, and after going ahead, allowed the Jamaican sun to work on Staley, which secured his victory.
"It took a lot of patience. That was the biggest part of the process. Along with the heat and him being a good player, you can't hope for things to happen, as that's a dangerous trap. Once I won the first set, it was just a matter of time before doubt started to creep into his head and then the heat started getting to him," Cariov said.
Meanwhile, Phillips shared that he ensured the match ended in two sets, as he was beginning to get wary in the sun.
"I went down a break early (in the second), so I was trailing the whole set and had to fight back into the match. I had to do it because I wasn't sure if I could play a third set tiebreaker with the energy level as I started feeling cramps. It was a tough battle despite it looking easy," he said.
Phillips believes the match helped his form going into the main round.
"It was exciting for me as I came out wanting to play aggressively and looking to win, instead of waiting for my opponent to lose. It was also an exciting matchup as I got some good rhythm going into the main draw," he stated.
Also registering victories on the day were Ghanian Abraham Asaba, who defeated USA's Mitchell Dobek 6-1, 6-1; Australia's Timothy Gray, who got the better of Brazil's Lucca Pinto 7-5, 6-2; USA's Amir Elbayoumy, who registered a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Dominican Republic's Emmanuel Munoz; and Japan's Shu Matsuoka, who claimed a 6-2, 6-5 win over Pablo Paternostro.
