A prize fund worth $4,500 helped increase the competitive edge and enticed some of Bermuda’s top tennis players to turnout for the recent Coral Beach Clay Court Championships.

That’s the view of James Collieson, Coral Beach’s tennis director, who believes the lure of hard cash will help grow the tournament and swell the number of local and overseas competitors in future years.

For the first time at the annual Championships, prize money was up for grabs in the more competitive events, such as the men’s open and men’s open doubles, thanks to tournament sponsors Moet.

Bermuda’s David Thomas picked up a cheque for $1,000 after defeating English expat Sam Butler 6-0, 7-5 in last Saturday’s intense men’s final, while Butler and Andy Bray split $800 between them after beating Thomas and Chris Weeks 6-3, 6-3 in the men’s doubles.

The rest of the prize pool was shared between the winners of the various age group categories.

Collieson, a former Bermuda Davis Cup player, had no doubt the cash on offer helped ramp up the intensity of the tennis by bringing out the best in all the finalists.

“I think the money contributed to the competitive edge big time,” he said. “You could definitely see that the money made a difference, especially when it came to crunch time with nerves coming into play.

“In the men’s final, David played very well, especially in the first set. The second set was a lot more competitive and had Sam won I think he might have had the edge going into the third as he’s a very fit guy.

“Despite the score it was a very competitive match, but had it not been for the prize money I don’t think Sam or David would have entered because of the time of year the tournament was held.”

More than 60 players — around 25 from overseas — entered the weeklong competition, which included men’s and women’s open, men’s and women’s open doubles, men’s over 45s, over 55s, over 65s and over 75s.

Previously known as the Coral Beach Invitational, the tournament also featured century mixed doubles and several senior ladies events.

Former Venezuela Fed Cup player Erica Bove claimed victory in the women’s round-robin tournament, which had a significantly lower turnout than the men’s open.

Looking ahead to next year’s tournament, Collieson feels it’s important that the organisers continue to dangle a cash incentive through sponsorship.

He believes it could help draw top East Coast college players and professionals to the Championships, and in turn present a greater challenge to the Island-based contingent.

“Raising the stakes through prize money will have a number of knock-on effects: the local players will train harder and therefore be in better shape, we will be able to attract more overseas players, and the local tennis community will come out and support the tournament a bit more,” he said.

“The Davis Cup team in Bermuda is quite good, but because it’s just the same five guys playing against each other over and over again, I think they perhaps lack a bit of mental toughness.

“That’s through no fault of their own, it’s just that they are not used to being in positions when the pressure is really on and hopefully tournaments like this can help improve that.”