Shakeem Nurse let his racquet do the talking as he executed a sublime straight sets win over Julian ‘Ju Ju’ Collymore to reach the round of 16 in the 2023 Barbados Road Tennis Open on Sunday in Belfield, Black Rock.
Blocking out the verbal negativity being spewed at him, the number two ranked player in Barbados and the 2022 runners-up, Nurse was his usual attacking self and won 21-13, 21-7 in the men’s round of 32.
Nurse did not have much to do except to ensure he kept the ball on, forcing Collymore to make several unforced errors which he did by serving away and playing the ball out of bounds. That allowed Nurse to control the narrative and easily advance.
Emar Edwards was also in good nick, securing his place with a well-played 21-18, 2111 victory against Dwayne Lynch.
Edwards has been away from the sport for a few years but looked as though he never left while Lynch, from the outset, was unhappy with some of the calls made by the officials and seemingly lost the battle mentally. The showdown lived up to expectations with some solid, attacking plays that made the long extensive rallies that much more entertaining. The crowd on hand was invested in the on-court battle between those two. The sound of the ball meeting racquet was heard around the court, as spectators were dead silent, watching Edwards and Lynch going stroke for stroke. In the end, it was Edwards who came out on top as he strategically served and put the ball in areas where Lynch was unable to effectively play the return shots. Shamon Weekes recovered from his loss in the opening set to take control 13-21, 21-17 and 21-18 when he met powerful lefthander Shawn Spencer.
