Tobiah Goodchild, one of Bermuda’s rising tennis stars, is beaming with pride after reaching the second round in singles and doubles at the ITF World Junior Tennis Tour in St Vincent & the Grenadines.

Goodchild defeated Lakshmi Dublin, of France, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 in the singles first round on Monday. His journey ended in the second round the next day when he was bested 6-1, 6-1 by American John Murphy, the winner of the first tournament held last week.

In the doubles, the Bermudian teamed up with Amaury Blondet, of Puerto Rico. The pair triumphed 6-0, 6-0 over Jadon Fraser (St Vincent & the Grenadines) and Krish Puga (Cuba) in the first round.

Goodchild and Blondet lost 6-2, 6-1 to the top-seeded Trinidad & Tobago pair of B’jorn Hall and Kale Dalla Costa.

“Overall, I’m proud of how I played this week,” Goodchild, 16, told The Royal Gazette.

“Winning my first ITF singles match in three sets and winning a doubles match with my friend from Puerto Rico was a big confidence boost.

“Even though I lost in singles the next day to last week’s champion and in doubles to the top seeds, I felt way more consistent and confident than before.

“I had a lot more faith in my strokes and serve, which was very shaky in last week’s tournament.

“My opponent in my second-round singles match had very big groundstrokes and a big serve, which was the complete opposite to my previous opponent, which slowed it down to throw off my rhythm.

“It was a very eye-opening experience to see the level that these players are at, and the level I strive to be at. Seeing this makes me excited for what’s next.”

While he has been eliminated from the tournament, Goodchild is not heading home until tomorrow. This will allow him to play practise matches others who have been knocked out.

Coach Steve Bean was pleased with the improvements he saw from the youngster.

“I think he’s getting accustomed to playing at this level,” the coach said.

“He was practising all week after getting knocked out from the first tournament. Fortunately, he had a tough singles match in the first round and managed to win it.

“His opponent gave him a testing time; luckily he pulled that off. I was happy that he got points. That’s what everybody is trying to do; get points so that they’re able to get into tournaments.

“He is getting used to the environment and level of play. Hopefully, he’s been encouraged now to go back home, continue to work hard and look forward to participating in more events like this.

“It’s not enough just to play around the small island of Bermuda with a few boys in his age group. The guys he played with here are from all over the world, so it’s been a wonderful experience for him.

“I think Tobiah is a much better doubles player than singles. He plays a lot of doubles at home with Jenson Bascome, Evan Heyliger and other players at Temple of Tennis.”

Another rising Bermudian player, Jadon Spriggs, played in the second tournament. He lost 7-6, 6-1, 6-0 in the first round to Aidan Clarke, of Barbados.

In the doubles, Spriggs combined with Jacob Jacelon, of Trinidad, with the two winning 6-3, 7-6, over the St Kitts & Nevis duo of Michael Duggins and Matthew Owen.

Spriggs and Jacelon bowed out in the second round when they were beaten 6-1, 6-0 by Canadian Xavier Hastick and Mattia Salvatore Tartaglia, of Italy.

Bean felt lack of such exposure cost Spriggs further progress in the tournament.

“I just think that he is not playing in these kinds of events. Just like Tobiah, Jadon did not maintain the level of play throughout the three sets in his singles,” Bean said.

“Jadon came off feeling good about himself because he played well. He played the doubles with a guy that he didn't even know; they squeezed out a tough win.

“They then played against the No 2 seeds and lost, but he gave a good account of himself. I told him how I was so proud of the way he represented Bermuda.”