Barbadian Seanon Williams is seeking a shift in fortune and a berth in the next round when he continues his first-round match this morning in the FirstCaribbean International Tennis Tournament.

Persistent rain yesterday afternoon at the National Tennis Centre, Wildey, St Michael, interrupted the contest between 16-year-old Williams and James Allemby of England, with the Briton leading 7-6, 3-2.

More than a dozen matches, including a much anticipated clash between top Barbadian junior Darian King and Guatemala's Jonathan Kuhn, were affected by rain and organisers are seeking to continue them early today.

Yesterday Williams showed tenacity and an impressive range of groundstrokes, and at one stage seemed capable of taking the first set after an early 3-0 lead, but was undone by some steady and clever baseline tennis from Allemby.

After a tight opening set, Allemby took the tie-break, soon after a one hour stoppage for rain, and forced his way to a 3-2 lead in the second before the last break for rain.

Today Williams must bring his best game, serve well and find a way to stay in the big points while capitalising on any opportunities to hit winners.

Overall, it was a tough day for local players as Devard Wharton, Renaldo Gibson, Hasani Stewart and Jerome Dixon all bowed out in the first round.

Wharton, with a world ranking of 699, was overpowered by No.1 seed, Lendl Smith of Trinidad and
Tobago, and went out in straight
sets – 6-4, 6-2.

Gibson, often showing flashes of brilliance, appeared impatient and also fell in straight sets to Venezuelan Alexander Rojas, the No.5 seed.

Rojas controlled the match with clever variations of pace and returned almost everything that Gibson offered, winning 6-2, 6-4.

Stewart was ousted 6-1, 6-4 by Bahamian Rodney Carey while Dixon was eliminated , 6-1, 6-2 , by Joseph Cohen of England.

Barbadian girls in the main draw – Kristen Lopez (1013 world ranking), Alyssa Fuentes (1413), Ancia Ifill, Kandia Shorey, Zahra Stewart, and Gabriella Lopez – are also expected
in action today.

The IFT-sanctioned tournament, which is attracting both male and female players in Under-18 and Under-14 divisions, is hosted by the Barbados Tennis Association and features players from more than 20 countries.