by SHERRYLYN A. CLARKE

NO. 3 SEED CHRISTOPHER DATE became the first player to reach the semi-finals of the Under-18 boys' division of the 2006 National Tennis Championships.

Playing at the National Tennis Centre yesterday, Date faced his toughest challenge to date. Having lost only one game in the division, he had to work harder for the 6-3, 6-4 victory over Renaldo Gibson. He is on a collision course with No. 2 seed Seanon Williams, who will need to get past Joel Fields. The latter needed three sets, 6-2, 6-7, 6-0, to beat Nicholas Blades.

No. 4 Dario Parris will play Mark Hinkson, who had a marathon session against Kai Raphael on Saturday night. That match started at 2:45 p.m. and finished under the lights at 7:15 p.m., with Hinkson victorious 7-6, 3-6, 7-6.

Despite a limp, Hinkson returned yesterday morning to take out David Murphy 6-0, 6-2 in the Under-16 division and has booked a spot against No. 2 seed Seanon Williams for a place in the quarter-finals.

Williams and the three other top seeds drew byes in the first round.

The four semi-finalists have been decided in the boys' Under-14 and Under-12 divisions. In the Under-14, No. 1 seed Jackson Kerr will play Luke Humphrey, who upset No. 4 Liam Rice, while No. 2 Kenton Gamble will take on No. 3 Thomas Hill. In the Under-12 division, Andrew Meyer is matched against Zayne Hall and Ramal Williams against Ryan Newman.

In the girls' division, the Lopez sisters were in winners' row. The daughters of coach Sydney Lopez, a former national player, have been making their presence felt in the various age groups.

In the Under-18 Division, Gabrielle Lopez beat Allison Boyce 6-0, 6-1 and will play her sister Kristen in the semi-finals. The other match will feature Alyssa Fuentes and Kandia Shorey.

In the Under-16 matches, Kristen beat Zahra Stewart 6-1, 6-1; but Fuentes took out Gabrielle 7-5, 6-2. Little Melena also won her Under-12 match 8-0 against Samiya Dottin. Also in Under-12, Bianca Cave won by walkover against Camila Haynes while Ashley Frost beat Ancia Ifill 6-1, 6-1 in girls' Under-14 action.

The intensity is building as the matches get closer to deciding the winners. The players will be back on court at 3:30 p.m. today after school.

Other results (seed in brackets):

Boys' Under-16:

Renaldo Gibson beat Michael Armstrong 6-1, 6-0

Justin Gilkes bt Jerome Leslie 6-0, 6-0

Jerome Dixon bt Nicholas Blades 6-3, 6-0

Jackson Kerr bt Rohan Amin 6-1, 6-0

Carron Beckles bt Kenton Gamble 0-6, 6-3, 6-3

André Parris bt Kai Raphael 6-1, 6-0

Jerome Dixon bt Nicholas Blades 6-3, 6-0

Thomas Hill bt Ture Skinner 6-2, 6-0

Luke Humphrey bt Matthew Gittens 6-0, 6-0,

Boys' Under-14:

(1) Jackson Kerr bt Camar Haynes 6-0, 6-0

Luke Humphrey bt (4) Liam Rice 6-3, 6-3

(3) Thomas Hill bt Andrew Meyer 6-2, 6-2

(2) Kenton Gamble won by walkover against Ture Skinner 6-0, 6-0

Boys' Under-12: (first to 8)

(1) Andrew Meyer bt Zayne Hall 8-2

Dylan Hall bt Jacob Davis 8-7

Ramal Williams bt Keifer Kinch 8-4

(2) Ryan Newman bt Damian Clarke 8-3

Boys' Under-10:

Dylan Hall had a walkover against Damian Clarke.

Jacob Davis bt B. Cave 8-1.