Denton's nearly men make him so proud

GUERNSEY came close to causing a major upset in the men's tennis yesterday. The hosts took first seeds Rhodes to the wire in a nail-biting last-16 clash at the Guernsey Tennis Centre.

The Sarnians had already swept past the Faroe Islands by two matches to nil in the first round.

But eventually they lost to the Greek island 2-1 after a doubles decider.

Guernsey's number one Andy Privett found it hard going against Antony Kountouris, who is one of the favourites for the singles title in the individual event.

A well-supported match finished 7-5, 6-1 for the Greek, who looked distracted in the first set, allowing Privett to take full advantage.

But by the second set, Kountouris showed his class and finished the match off after a break due to rain.

Rob West played his best tennis yesterday, according to Sarnian team manager Rick Denton.

Playing against Rhodes' tennis team manager Iasonas Marinakis he served well, returned hard and made few unforced errors.

He took the first set 6-4 and then played through an excellent tie-break in the second, which he won 7-4.

'Rob played exceptionally well and had two tremendous sets,' said Denton.

'He probably played his best tennis against a higher ranking player and I am very pleased with the way he is performing. He is feeling like he is really up for the singles event now and is hopeful that he is in with a chance of a medal.'

Tied at one match each, the match had to go to doubles with Privett and Ian Robinson on court.

They lost the first set in a tie-break after saving three set points from the Greeks. In the second set they lost 6-3.

'I think that both men should be very proud of the way that they played against the top seeds today. For our team to get that far against the favourites is a really good achievement,' said Denton.

'We are very pleased overall but also very deflated. Everyone played their hearts out in front of the home crowd and it was a shame we lost eventually. We are still confident though for the other doubles events.'

There was success for Guernsey's women , hough, who have secured themselves a bronze medal at least ahead of today's semis and final.

Unlike the men, they played a round-robin event and finished second in their group.

In their second match, Guernsey lost 2-0 against second-favourites Gibraltar after both Jo Robinson and Chantelle de la Mare lost their singles matches, avoiding the need for a doubles match.

That means they will play favourites Aland in the semi-final after beating the Isle of Man 2-1.