Brent Smith, playing the best match of the 2001 Argus Open so far, saved two match points and broke service twice to oust veteran Canadian Gary Lyons in a three-set thriller, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, at Tennis Stadium yesterday.

At one set apiece and trailing 4-5 in the deciding set with Lyons serving, Smith made a bold move and began attacking his opponent's serve. This change of strategy so late in the match caught Lyons by surprise and forced him into committing several unforced, and costly, errors.

"All of a sudden I couldn't hit a forehand to save my life and somehow lost the accuracy in my serve," said Smith when it was all over. "In order to save the match I had to use a different tactic.

"That's when I decided to attack his serve when he was serving for the match because I had nothing to lose."

The strategy worked because Smith first broke Lyons, who was long with a forehand across court with Smith stranded in the backhand court, to draw level at 5-5. Smith then had to save another match point at 30-40 before holding for a 6-5 lead. He then closed this entertaining encounter with a late burst of youthful exuberance, breaking his opponent at love.

A tired and exhausted Lyons offered no excuses.

"It was fun," he said, before adding: "What we really need in these tournaments is a 35-Over or 40-Over (category) where you won't be matched against a lot of young or younger legs."

Meanwhile, veteran and former champion Coleridge Place eased past Larry Samuels in straight sets 6-2, 6-0, while teenager Jasmine Quinn defeated Charmaine Smith 6-2, 6-3.

Play also got underway in the men's open doubles with Stephen Phillips and Paul York defeating Steven Fox and Mike Roberts 6-3, 6-2. They will now face David Furbert and Larry Samuels, with the winners going up against Vernal Davis and Sammy Maybury, the fourth seeds.