Bermuda Lawn Tennis Club Invitational Tournament at Coral Beach Club could well have been played yesterday.

Second seeds Gill Butterfield and Dick Mount fought from the brink of defeat to upend the fourth ranked pair of Dominique Laffont and John Moore 6-3, 1-6, 7-5.

As a tired Mount said: "That was certainly worth the admission,'' after he and his partner had trailed 2-5 with Moore set to serve for game, set and match.

"That's when we played the best tennis of the match,'' beamed a happy Butterfield, who admitted that "there was no way I thought we were going to win that match. John was everywhere.'' There was one other match of equal importance when third seed Stuart Smith pulled off a mild upset by defeating second seed Mike Curry 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-2 to advance into the Men's Open final against the Island's top ranked Michael Way.

Curry, after winning the opening set, jumped off to a 3-0 lead in the second set before his game fell apart as Smith stayed the course to win 12 of the next 14 games for the match.

"I don't know what happened,'' said Curry, "but I just went out of it, and when Stuart got on top and realising that if I won I would have to play Michael and I would lose anyway, I just went for all the shots and as you can tell the majority of them didn't fall in.'' In women's action Kelly Holland defeated Matchko Foley, one of America's top mixed doubles seniors players, in straight sets in the Women's Singles Open 6-1, 6-2, while top seed Mary Lenore Blair had an even easier time in beating Evie Peck 6-1, 6-1.

One of the tournament's mild surprises has been the play of former champion Vernal Davis. Though losing to Earl Leader 6-0, 6-3 in a third round match, there were glimpses of the Davis of old in the second set when he broke to lead, only to run out of steam.

Action continues today with a total of five finals, including two with Dick Mount competing. The native of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts faces his doubles partner, Wally Stimpson, in the Men's 55 final before teaming up with Stimpson in the Men's 55 Doubles final to take on Paul Perregaux and Don MacKay. The women take centre stage when Mary Lenore Blair of the United States takes on Joan Hassell of England in the Women's 40 final.