Andy Bray and Ashley Brooks lived up to their Bermuda number one rankings to take their respective titles in the BLTA Open on Saturday ? but they won their finals with varying degrees of difficulty.

While Englishman Bray brushed aside the challenge of young David Thomas in less than an hour, Brooks, hampered by a twisted left ankle, battled her way through a painful three-set victory over Tara Lambert.

The men?s final was much more competitive than the 6-1,6-0 score would suggest, though the more experienced Bray displayed the champion?s knack of consistently winning the big points.

?I always felt that the longer the rallies went on, the more likely it was that I would win the point,? said a delighted Bray after winning the tournament, which was formerly known as the Heineken Open, for the third time in four years.

?This was by far the toughest match I played in the tournament and I thought David played very well. It?s good to see him continuing to improve his game.?

Bray gave Thomas a lesson in patience, control and consistency during the 32-minute first set. And some effective volleying on his more frequent forays to the net in the second set killed off any hopes of a fightback by the young Bermudian, as the accountant completed victory in just 55 minutes.

In the absence of his biggest rivals, including Jenson Bascome and the injured James Collieson, Bray never came close to even losing a set throughout the tournament. The nimble Tony Thompson managed to win the most games against the top seed, producing some brave resistance to limit Bray to a 6-3, 6-3 semi-final win on Friday evening.

Nevertheless, Bray said he was well pleased to have come out on top of a field including talents such as Thomas, Romar Douglas and the former Sri Lanka Davis Cup player Samitha Ranaweera.

A backlog of matches meant the men?s and women?s singles finals were played simultaneously on Saturday afternoon, with the men on the show court.

Brooks? triumph was all the more remarkable, considering her disastrous start to a marathon day of tennis. At 9 a.m., playing with partner Laverne Stowe in the ladies? doubles final, Brooks twisted her ankle in just the second game.

Stowe and Brooks eventually overcame Kim Burns and Erian Jones 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 to win the title.

Brooks then played her part in an epic mixed doubles semi-final, as she and Jacob Trott went down to Tara Lambert and Romar Douglas, 1-6, 7-5, 7-5.

After only the briefest of breaks, the hobbling Brooks was back on court to face Lambert. And by the time she had toughed out a 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-4 triumph, it was well after 4 p.m. and her ankle was throbbing with pain.

?When I twisted my ankle in the doubles final, I didn?t think I?d be able to finish the match, but Laverne stepped up and did most of the work,? Brooks said.

?Defaulting the singles final was never even an option ? I wanted to play whatever. The sprain was hurting and I could not push off properly when I served so my serve was all arm. It was hard to put any pace on the ball.

?To be honest ? and I think Tara would agree ? we didn?t play particularly well. I was a bit surprised that Tara didn?t play more drop shots and lobs to force me to run around. That?s what I?d have done playing against an injured opponent.?

Brooks raced through the first set 6-1, but after Lambert came back to edge a second-set tiebreak 7-5, Brooks collapsed to the ground and called for ice and a three-minute injury time out.

Her apparent vulnerability disappeared as soon as play resumed, as Brooks raced into a 5-2 lead and hung on to win in spite of Lambert?s strong finish.

Brooks, who turns 18 this week, will return to her high school in South Carolina in preparation for her graduation ceremony on May 24. She will be back on the Island for the summer before starting her studies at Southern University in Louisiana ? a college with a strong tennis tradition ? in September.

She expects to be fit in time for the Island Construction Open at Pomander Gate next month.