Winner of the Iberostar Tennis Classic Men's Open, Cadren Todd (left) of Ocho Rios, accepts his trophy from National Commercial Bank's Napthali Reynolds (second right) during the presentation ceremony on Sunday afternoon. Todd defeated Montego Bay's Kirk Bouland to capture the title. At left in the background is assistant tournament director, Damian 'Steve' Nolan, and NCB's wealth adviser Tania Brown. - Claudia Gardner/Freelance Photographer

HANOVER:

Twenty-nine-year-old Cadren Todd of Ocho Rios emerged champion of the men's open in the finals of the inaugural Iberostar Tennis Classic Tournament on Sunday at the Montego Bay-based Iberostar Suites Hotel.

Todd defeated Montego Bay's Mark Bouland 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 to claim the championship trophy and the $50,000 winner's prize in the competition sponsored by National Commercial Bank (NCB). Both players entered the competition unseeded.

Bouland had sent the number-one seeded player and former national champion, Nicholas Malcolm, packing after administering a 1-6, 6-4, 10-8 beating in the quarter-finals and ascending to become the new favourite, while Todd had sent Marcus Malcolm packing after handing down a 6-3, 7-6 defeat.

But injury and what Bouland admitted was below-par fitness level took a toll on the 23-year-old, who suffered muscle cramps, which curtailed his movements and aided in his subsequent 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 loss to Todd.

Following the game, Todd told The Gleaner that he knew he would have got the better of Bouland, as he had more stamina.

"As soon as I saw that Nicholas (Malcolm) was out, I knew I would win this tournament easily," Todd said.

"I knew I was going to win. Since the tournament started, we have been playing a whole bunch of matches from the morning coming right back. So I know I am actually the fitter player, so from the match started, all I did was keep the points long because sooner or later they (opponents) would get tired. That's the strategy I used for the last three matches."

Bouland attributed his loss to inadequate physical fitness. He said he would come better prepared next year.

Injury struck

"I think if it weren't for the injury, I would definitely win because I was winning the match pretty comfortably, but injury struck," he told The Gleaner. "I decided to enter the competition at the last minute, the last week. I was training and running but I guess I wasn't fit enough."

Tournament director Simon Casserly told The Gleaner he was very happy, adding that the tournament exceeded his expectations.

"There were major upsets along the way in the men's open. We didn't see the number one or number two seeds in the finals, but that's how it is. You have to win your matches on the court and at the end of the day, it shows the players that they have to come prepared because there are other players out there who want it.

"We can expect next year to be bigger and better because there are a number of overseas-based players who have indicated that they will be coming next year," he added.

In other finals, Lisa Chin defeated Pauline Hylton to lift the women's amateur title, while Gordon Chuck and Wayne Harvey defeated Delroy Findley and Alejandro Vazquez in the men's Class Two and Three deciders, respectively.