Donald Evans, returning home specifically to play in the Argus Open tennis championships, opened his account with a polished 6-1, 6-3 victory over young Ryan Swan yesterday at the Tennis Stadium.

The victory set up a semi-final clash against the experienced Eugene Simmons this afternoon at 4.30.

Simmons earned his trip with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Wilfred Gonsalves.

Though the top seed committed 18 unforced errors and couldn't seem to get a first serve in until the fifth game, he showed little resemblance of a player lacking in match fitness.

Young Swan, who played so brilliantly the day before, admitted that he was somewhat nervous when the match got underway.

"He warmed me so in the first game that I woke up," he said. "But I played so inconsistently it was unbelievable!"

Meanwhile, the stage has been set for two of the young masters to meet in another semi-final today when Jovan Whitter brushed off a first set lapse when he had to overcome veteran Martin Zolnai in a tie-break 7-6, (7-3), 6-3 in order to face top seed Jenson Bascome, who eased past Steve Jones in only 48 minutes, 6-1, 6-1.

In Tuesday's action, fourth seeds Laverne Stowe and Ryan Swan had to call upon all their experience and ability in the fourth round before pulling off a thrilling 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 victory over the talented youth pair of Ashley Brooks and Kris Frick.

In a match that had it all - tension, brilliant shotmaking and excitement - the players were kept on their toes throughout the 96-minute contest.

Stowe and Swan gained the early initiative by breaking Brooks to take a 3-1 lead only to have Stowe's service broken to close the gap.

With Swan serving for the first set at 5-4, the youngsters - 27 years between them, Brooks 14 and Frick 13 - rose to the occasion and refused to give an inch, playing some of the best tennis of the match.

Frick opened the game with a sliced backhand crosscourt shot that Swan couldn't catch up with and when Brooks smashed two volleys down the middle, they were within a point of levelling the set.

That came when Swan mistimed an overhead smash and they were tied at 5-5.

The teams then stayed on serve until the tie-break when Stowe and Swan won 7-3. In the second set, Stowe and Swan came through with two breaks, both from Frick in the fourth and eighth games.

Swan, himself a teenager, said: "They played very well. They have a promising future."

As far as young Frick was concerned, it wasn't a case of he and Brooks not playing their best, it was a case of their opponents "not giving us anything".

"They played smart, especially in their net game.

"We just couldn't keep track of Ryan, he was all over the court and though we caught him out a couple of times, he was awesome and with Laverne rock steady at the back, they were just too good."

Meanwhile, the decision of the tournament committee to move play forward by two months in order to get the Island's top youngsters home for the summer continued to bear fruit as Jovan Whitter joined the likes of Jenson Bascome, Swan, Brooks, Zara DeSilva, John Masters, and Morgan Lightbourne to brighten up the event.

Whitter, in earlier action, defeated Sylvain Girard 6-3, 6-2 after he had teamed with Morgan Lightbourne to defeat G.Lyons and V.Melvin 6-1, 6-2 in the mixed doubles.