weekend, Kelly Holland took a swipe at two players who weren't even there.

Holland, who defeated number two seed Gill Butterfield in the final at the Tennis Stadium, criticised former Federation Cup team-mates Donna Bradshaw and Kim Simmons for not entering the tournament.

"The local season is great,'' said Holland. "It would be better (for Island tennis) if all the players came out instead of sitting back and not playing.'' Holland was responding in part to comments made by Bradshaw last week, in which the former Bermuda number one said she was entering semi-retirement because of the poor state of women's tennis.

"I feel that some of the girls can be playing better than they are ...'' Bradshaw was quoted as saying. "I guess I thought that with the Fed Cup, the level of women's play would have improved.'' Bradshaw also spoke of an emotional letdown following the May tournament in the Dominican Republic, in which she, Butterfield, Holland and Simmons were rudely welcomed to the world of international tennis.

"I've been there and there's nothing I have to prove to anybody. I've done it all and I think I've done more than anybody in women's tennis locally.'' Holland said she hadn't felt "any sort of letdown'' following the Fed Cup and was disappointed that there hadn't been a full field in any Bermuda tournament since.

"It's been a long time since you had several women playing against each other and you never knew who was going to win,'' said Holland. "We should take advantage of that.

Holland missed one tournament this summer due to a calf injury. In others she lost to Debra Darrell in the semi-final of the Heineken and the final of the Pomander Gate.

Last week, she defeated Darrell, the top seed who was overlooked in last year's Fed Cup team selection, in a marathon three-hour match, then took two hours to beat Butterfield 7-5, 6-2.

"Even though I played well, I kind of lucked out,'' said Holland. "I don't really think Gill was on her game.''