Ricky Mallory Jr eased into the main draw of the regional Junior International Tennis Championships in El Salvador yesterday.

Mallory Jr did not drop a set as he comfortably beat two opponents despite suffering an injury to his right arm that will require treatment.

In his first game the Bermuda junior dispatched Juan Arguelles, of Honduras 6-0, 6-0, and then was more than a match for John Chin, of Jamaica, comfortably seeing off his opponent 6-2, 6-3.

The only concern for Mallory Jr is the tendon injury he suffered, although the presence of Dr Jose Guerrero, a former Olympic doctor who has worked with the likes of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, means his is in good hands.

While Mallory Jr was cruising into the main draw, compatriots Ben Jones and Shelby Madeiros were having a tougher time of things.

The pair both struggled in the qualifiers and will now play in the consolation rounds of the under-14 tournament.

Jones went down to Aiden Carten, of Trinidad, 6-0, 6-1 in his first match, but played a lot smarter and with more intensity in his second match, which he lost 6-2, 2-6, 10-4 to Kofi Bowe, of the Bahamas.

Despite also losing convincingly, Madeiros showed enough fight in her international debut for Ricky Mallory Sr, Bermuda's national tennis director who is attending the tournament as the trio's coach, to hail her as a star of the future.

“I was really impressed with Shelby's matches,” Mallory Sr said. “She was a bit nervous at first which is to be expected as this was her debut representing Bermuda.

“In her second match you could see that her nerves had subsided and she settled into her match playing some excellent tennis.

“The one thing I appreciate about Shelby is that she never gives up and fights for every point.

“The tournament attracts the best players from the Caribbean and Central America so there is a lot of tough competitors.

“Shelby has great potential to be one of Bermuda's future Fed Cup players.”

Madeiros lost her first match 6-3, 6-0 to Michaela Stephens, of Jamaica, and despite an improved performance was beaten 7-6, 6-3 by Alesha Alleyne, of Barbados, in her second encounter.