6-4 victory over arch-rival Donald Evans in the men's final of the 62nd Coral Beach and Tennis Club Invitational Championships on Saturday, and in the process emerged as the leader of Bermuda's 1995 Davis Cup squad.

Also, Way -- who defeated Evans during a September exhibition match when Evans was forced to retire due to an injury -- left no doubt as to who can lay claim as the Island's top tennis player of the year.

It was the third Coral Beach Invitational singles title for the slimmed down Way (he previously won in 1989 and 1990), and it came on the heels of a doubles victory over Patrick Rafter, ranked 21st on the ATP tour, and Kevin Petty in a fun-match on Friday. Way was partnered with XL Bermuda Open Tournament Director Alec Anderson, where a dinner at a local restaurant was up for grabs.

The previous night's merriment seemed to have no visible effect on Way, as he roared back in the second set against Evans, at one point holding a 4-2 advantage, before letting his rival back in the door.

But it was during the third set that Way's dominance was in full view, overpowering his opponent in the first two games of the set with aggressive play that caught Evans completely off guard.

When Evans double faulted to start the third game it looked as if Way was in the driver's seat. Then Evans smashed an ace (one of eight he recorded on the day) to put the score at 2-1. Way's lightning-quick serve in the next game, however, gave him a commanding lead although two more stunning aces gave Evans victories in games five and seven.

"That set is the best I've played all year, definitely,'' said a smiling Way moments after his triumph. "But I think Donald played well, too. It was just my day, after all this is my home court.'' Way's victory came with strings attached -- he credited the new way he was stringing his racquets with helping him have a better feel for the ball.

"I was stringing my racquets too tight and it loosened up a bit of tension,'' said Way.

Later he added: "(Evans) is definitely the one guy I wanted to beat all year and a lot of people had felt that he was better than me. But I'm playing well right now. It was a close match, it could have gone either way. "We're very close and every time we play it's going to be close. I'm not saying I'm better or he's better, but it's just on any given day anything could happen.'' "I seemed to have a hard time keeping my concentration,'' added Way. "It was tough because he was coming to the net all the time. He puts a lot of pressure on you.'' Said Evans: "It was pretty tough because he was returning so well. My game is the serve and volley and he neutralised my serve so I was trying to get a higher percentage of first serves so I couldn't stick with my game plan.

"Plus I didn't convert on a couple of opportunities. I didn't really build up a whole lot of momentum.'' Evans, who was seeded number one in the tournament and looking for his first Invitational triumph, squandered a big chance to knot the score at 3-3 in the sixth game of the second set when he stormed back after trailing, then held advantage briefly before Way won the game to go up 4-2.

"I was indecisive, it was important for me to win, but life goes on,'' said Evans.

Kim Simmons, meantime, won her second title in a row since returning to Bermuda from Michigan when she defeated Jans Rolls of England 6-4, 7-5 in an entertaining women's singles final.

Simmons took command of the match in the second set when she trailed Rolls 3-1, stringing four consecutive wins together to take a 5-3 lead.

"I changed my serve and if I change my serve my whole game has to change so, yeah, I decided to be a little more aggressive and I think that took (Rolls) off guard. I don't think she was expecting that,'' said Simmons.

It was the first Invitational title for the effervescent Simmons, coming just a week after her win in the Bermuda Lawn Tennis Club Invitational.

"On clay you have to be a little bit more patient and be willing to hit a few more groundstrokes, but I grew up on the hardcourts where serve and volley is the way to go,'' added Simmons, recently named new pro at Pomander Gate.

"So I just pretended I was on a hard court again and I just started to play like I would if I were on the Southapmton Princess court or something like that.'' Said Rolls: "She really came on strong when I blew a couple of big points. I knew that she was an attacker and she had a lot of pace on the ball which I actually like. The big thing for me was to sort of calm down and cool my nerves because I haven't really played in many tournaments.

"I was never really in control of the match, yet at the same time I had within my own power to dictate what was going to happen.'' ON A ROLLS -- Kim Simmons turned on the heat in the second set to win the women's singles crown at Coral Beach.