Brother-sister duo dominate in National Tennis Tournament

The brother and sister duo, Afi and Afe Lucas annihilated their opponents in another National Tennis Tournament after winning straight sets in their singles match.

Afi, 17 years old, and 15 year old Afe, snatched the Junior Boys and Girls Tennis Open Titles in their respective categories. The tournament which was organised by The St Vincent and the Grenadines Lawn Tennis Association (SVGTA) and sponsored by the Mustique Company began on Monday, April 3 at the National Tennis Center with 26 participants, and culminated on Saturday, April 8 in Mustique.

NATHANIEL LAWRENCE (LEFT) accepts the Under 14 champion trophy

The Finals saw Loukhya Premaj triumphing over Madisenn Gonsalves in the Girls under 14’s scoring 4-1, 4-1; Nathaniel Lawrence claiming victory over Akquin Johnson in the Boys under 14’s scoring 4-2, 4-1; Afe Lucas defeating Zareah Byron in the Girls under 18’s scoring 6-1, 6-1; and Afi Lucas winning 6-1, 6-2 against Jaiden Bowens in the Boys under 18’s.

Manager of the Mustique Tennis Club, Richard Schaffer spoke to SEARCHLIGHT and commented specifically on Afi’s game.

“Afi, in my opinion- right now in the country- I don’t think there’s anyone that can beat him. He’s well rounded; he’s got everything, he can use all the spins. In the tennis world, he understands how the game is played and he shows it when he’s on the court,” Schaffer said.

“His confidence and the understanding of where to put the ball and how to play the game is there.”

Schaffer added that Afi and Afe are an unbeatable duo, and his hopes are for St Vincent and the Grenadines to produce more players like them.

“They’re just definitely much more advanced than everybody else. The main reason is they just play more. They have the ability to go on the court and they play more tennis and that just goes to the love of the game and they want to play it… on the whole, Afi and Afe are definitely the two best players in the country,” Schaffer added.

Lucas spoke of his experience training under coach, Kebajah King, at the Love All Tennis Academy located near to the Kingstown Preparatory School.

“…I’ve been training with him my whole life basically. Training with coach, it’s fun sometimes, and not. I won’t lie. He’s a very strict man. He doesn’t like when people fool around on the court because whatever you do in practice is what you’re going to do in a match, but training in Love All Tennis Academy, it’s fun,” Afi related.

“It prepares you for the future. It makes you disciplined, it betters you as a tennis player and also as a person.”

Lucas who began playing tennis at the age of three is well on his way to achieving his goal. He has already competed in the International Tennis Tournament (ITF) in both St Lucia and Barbados; he has won the Sagicor Federation of Tennis of Central America and the Caribbean(COTECC) Development Junior Tennis Tournament, and has also acquired close to every national title that he has competed for.

“…I have a goal that I want to accomplish in life which is to be number one in the world, and one of the best tennis players in the world,” Afi said.

He wants to become a professional tennis player, “make my name on the world stage, make my family proud, coach proud, everybody that helped me along the way proud….”

Now, after being Head Boy and 2022 valedictorian at the Intermediate High School, attaining eight subject awards, Afi has decided, with the support of his family, to terminate his education in St Vincent and move abroad so that he can focus on training for the ITF tournament in St Lucia this year and work towards an International Tennis Scholarship.

Lucas is encouraging youngsters to chase after dreams and not to be discouraged by anyone who doubts their possibilities.

“If you have a goal or a dream, you shouldn’t listen to anybody that tells you not to pursue it or it’s too hard because honestly, I’ve had a lot of people tell me that, some of my own friends, people who are older than me that train, or used to train, or used to train by my Tennis court. I could remember some couple years back where I was talking to [someone]…and they said I can’t accomplish that. I want to prove people wrong; but other than that, if you have a dream or a goal in life, you shouldn’t listen to anybody that doubts you, or says that you can’t do it. You should try your best. Go for it. Pursue your dreams. Pursue your goals.”