Roberts exits tourney in straight sets

It was not the ending he wanted but Bahamian number one ranked male tennis player, Justin Roberts, fell in straight sets against Jamaican Blaise Bicknell at the Legacy Bank NWA Series in Fayetteville, Arkansas yesterday afternoon.

He fell 6-1 and 6-4 in round two of the qualifying draw. The loss means that he missed out on getting into the main draw that gets underway this morning.

This was an M15 International Tennis Federation (ITF) World Tennis Tour tournament. It was also his second match and first ITF Tour tournament since the COVID-19 pandemic shut tennis down in March. On Monday he took down Bulgarian Ivailo Keremedchiev in straight sets, 6-3 and 6-4.

The first set saw Bicknell gaining the advantage as Roberts was quickly in a 4-0 hole. Roberts was able to break his opponent’s serve. In the other two games that Bicknell won in that set, Roberts said he made a lot of unforced errors.

“Today was not great. I do not think I played well to be honest. In the second set, the mentality was to keep fighting. I tried to find my game, but it was not with me today. I was on a break early in the second set and I was up 2-0. My serve got broken and I just did not serve well,” Roberts said.

He added, “My weapon is my forearm and it is reliable, but it was not there today (Tuesday). I fought and I was able to break his serve twice which was not the problem today, but it was just an off day today (Tuesday),” Roberts said

Roberts said that he just need a few more matches to play in and find a solution on how to win games when his forearm is not working.

“I always compete hard,” Roberts said. “It was just early in getting back and competing again. I am usually a player that need a few matches under my belt before I start competing well. Maybe when my forearm is not working, maybe I could be less aggressive and slow down to get into a rhythm.”

Last week Roberts played three games in a money tournament. Before that, his last match was in Las Vegas, Nevada in early March.

“I haven’t played in eight months so it was not off that I was not 

playing well. I am just happy to be on the court again. Two months ago, I was complaining that I could not play in tournaments but now I am playing. I cannot be upset because I had an opportunity to compete today. On to the next one.”

“It was nice to be able to compete again and I am not pleased with my level, but I cannot expect too much after not playing for so long. Now it is about getting into match shape.”

When he is playing, he said he feels between 60-70 percent in game shape. Physically he feels healthy.

He is looking at playing again in the final two weeks of this month in the Dominican Republic. Before playing in Dominican Republic, he may head to Cancun, Mexico to play in another money tournament. If he does not get to go to Mexico, then it will only be the Dominican Republic to end what was supposed to be an eventful year in his first full year as a professional.

The Bahamian is ranked at number 796 in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) latest singles rankings on November 2. In the ITF singles rankings that also came out on November 2, he is ranked at number 417.

This was set up as a busy year for Roberts. He was set to represent The Bahamas at the Davis Cup competition, playing alongside Marvin Rolle, Kevin Major Jr. and Baker Newman – one of the strongest teams to be assembled by The Bahamas in recent years. However, the Davis Cup competition was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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