Bermuda tennis star Trey Mallory held his nerve to claim victory at the Battle of Boca in Boca Raton, Florida, today.

Mallory defeated American Avner Wong 6-4, 1-6, 10-5 in the final at Rick Macci Academy and Tennis Centre. By winning this Universal Tennis Rating pro event, the 24-year-old Bermudian received a wild card to the main draw of the ITF M15 Paraguay pro tournament next month.

“It was a good match against a quality player,” Mallory told The Royal Gazette.

“I managed to get the early break which helped me free up and go for my shots. Even though I got broken back I managed to win that 5-4 game to win the first set 6-4.

“In the second set I noticed my opponent playing better and smarter tennis which kept me off balance, not allowing me to retain my rhythm, causing some forced errors.

“In the match tiebreaker, I was focusing on playing big aggressive tennis the way I play best, which paid off in the end.

“Overall, it feels great to win the Battle of Boca UTR Pro event and even more, win a wild card to the main draw of the ITF M15 Paraguay Pro tournament.

“This is all great preparation for the upcoming CAC Games in Dominican Republic and our home Davis Cup match against Mexico in September.”

Another Bermudian, Tariq Simons, reached the round of 16 of the same event, where he lost 6-0, 6-2 to American Tristan Ryerson.

“I feel privileged to be out here playing international tournaments, with the living situation and support of the people around me,” Simons said.

“Obviously special for me out here with two of my team-mates from the Davis Cup team. We also have one local junior girl as well, Lee Terceira, who’s probably going to do big things as she gets older.”

Simons, who is hoping to regain his spot in the Davis Cup team, was delighted to assist Mallory with his warm-up.

“Another thing is I got to warm up Trey this morning before his victory, which was special for me because I got to watch him win,” he said.

“I got a bit of inspiration from someone who’s quite close to me there as well. It’s been two weeks, I’ve played three events and I’ve had a few victories.

“I’ve had a few losses and I can feel that I’m in a process of rebuilding myself into a competitive state.

“It’s very different from coaching, it’s very different from practising and it’s very different when the place is new. The people I’m playing with are new and the people watching are new, so a lot of things have changed for me in the last two weeks.

“I’m privileged to have done it in a supportive atmosphere between people from Bermuda and the coach and the place that we are.

“It’s a nice thing that's happening. I’m looking forward to future success and failures in the future for me, especially in the coming two or three weeks if I get to stay out here that long.”