singles final in recent years when he defeated fourth seed Dean Mello in three sets 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 during the semi-finals of the Coral Beach Club Invitational yesterday.

But Way was not at full strength, having been fighting a heavy cough and cold during the past week. This slowed him down and his game almost to the advantage of Mello, but Mello admitted that he "just wasn't able to take advantage of the situation.'' However, Donald Evans is a different story. He was on the short end of a long match the last time he faced Way and like his victory over Greg Frigerio on Wednesday his memory is sharp.

Whether or not he can complete what has been an overpowering week for himself one will have to wait and see until their 11.30a.m. meeting in today's final is concluded.

One thing for certain, Evans is in peak form, stroking the ball well, serving well and volleying well.

How will that stack up against Way? "He's definitely at the top of his game,'' said the defending singles champion of Evans. "I was playing next to him when he was walking all over Greg, and though I wasn't able to watch much of their match because I had to concentrate on my opponent, what I did see was awesome.'' It has also been a great week for Earl Leader, who collected his second title on the day when he teamed with Patrick O'Kelly in the men's 45 doubles final to defeat Michael Gorton Sr. and Mike Janzen 6-2, 6-7, 6-3.

This came after he had stopped the victory charge of Ron Groff to take the men's 45 singles title 6-2, 6-3.

Groff had stolen the spotlight throughout the week by upsetting the second and third seeds but he wasn't able to complete the cycle yesterday.

"This guy is tough'' admitted the Wilmington, Delaware resident of Leader following the match.

But equally gracious was the champion. "He's a very good player,'' admitted Leader. "I had to be patient and my strategy was to stay close in every game because he wasn't consistent and didn't give away much.'' In other events Donna Bradshaw's return from retirement brought a good result as she teamed with Anne Jones to take the women's 40 doubles crown with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Jan Quinn and Maureen O'Berg.

Bradshaw admitted that it was a good match and she seemed excited about coming out of retirement.

"It was a pleasure coming back, naturally. I've enjoyed the week, especially playing with Anne.'' Does that mean that she is back for a while! "Not at all,'' said Bradshaw.

"I will play, but it will be selective. I want to enjoy my tennis, but not at all costs.'' Meanwhile the combination of Gill Butterfield and Kelly Holland defeated the mother and daughter combination of Pooh and Marni Johnson 6-1, 6-4 to move into the finals against top seeds Gill Finnigan and Wendy Gelhay.

Gelhay let one slip when she and doubles partner Dean Mello blew a 5-4 lead in the third set before losing to Heidi Boyle and Mark Cordeiro in the mixed doubles open 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.

With the score knotted at 5-5 the Boyle-Cordeiro combination broke and then Boyle held at 15 for the set and match.

Heidi completed her day with a comfortable victory over Tara Lambert in the women's open competition, winning 6-0, 6-1.

Today's play gets underway at 9.30 a.m.