Tariq Simons gave a good account of himself in the M15 Pembroke first-round encounter with Canadian Alvin Tudorica at WER Joell Stadium yesterday.

While Tudorica, the tournament's fourth seed, prevailed 6-3, 6-2, Simons made good use of his wild card to give his opponent great competition.

The Bermudian forced multiple break points on his opponent’s serve but could not convert at decisive moments as the Canadian, who is ranked 878 in the world, progressed to the second round.

“It’s part of the game and I’m looking to learn from it for future opportunities,” Simons told The Royal Gazette.

“The main positive is the technical change on my forehand from earlier this year, since my return home from India.

“I’d say it’s just about complete now and no longer a liability on court. It’s caught up with the rest of my technical game.

“Still some mental work to be done to take advantage of crucial moments on match situations. But I think in general, it’s a progression forward from what I’ve been working towards for the year.”

Simons is back in action today when he partners American Jonny Degroot against the United States pair of Henry Bilicic and Alexander Wriedt in the doubles first round.

“I’m excited for the doubles,” the 25-year-old said.

“I don’t know my partner very well, but it’s good to get some extra matches in and we’ll see how it goes.”

Meanwhile, fellow Bermudian Trey Mallory had his doubles match moved from yesterday to today because of a scheduling overlap.

Mallory and Jamaican John Chin were due to face the American duo Rohan Sachdev and Kian Vakili.

With Mallory and Chin having already completed their intense warm-up, they were left disappointed to be informed that the contest had been postponed because Sachdev was still playing singles.

Before the doubles, Mallory will take to the court against US youngster Carel Ngounoue in the singles first round.

With play halted by bad light, tournament director Ricky Mallory indicated that they will try to stage the event much earlier next year to avoid bad weather.

“The weather has been a huge hindrance,” Mallory said.

“If we are able to get the sponsors involved again, we’re going to change the date and try to do it maybe at the end of August or the beginning of September.

“It’s just that around this time of year the weather’s too unpredictable. I know people will argue that if we do it during August or September, that’s hurricane season, but it’s a chance we’re willing to take.

“The first day of qualifiers was Sunday, but there was nothing at all, all the matches were rained out. We thought we could have got more matches in on Monday, but that wasn’t the case, only one match was played.

“We were scheduled for a 9am start on Tuesday, but we ended up starting at 10.30am due to the weather. We got all the qualifying matches in and most of the matches were played as the weather was good for most of the day.

“But we’re still not on schedule after stopping some of the matches because of bad light, meaning that we have to come up with a new schedule.”

Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association president Michael Wolfe lamented the condition of the stadium's lighting system, which forced matches to be brought to an abrupt end.

“The last matches on Tuesday were halted due to bad light,” Wolfe said.

“The infrastructure of the stadium is not up to international standards in terms of lighting. So these matches will now be forced to be played on Wednesday and we’re adjusting the schedule accordingly.”

As part of developing local match officials, Hugh Seymour and Quinton Burgess are being mentored for umpiring duties.

“The good thing about having this event is that we have Hugh Seymour and Quinton Burgess being trained by the tournament supervisor to be qualified World Tennis chair umpires,” Mallory added.

“Hugh is actually doing matches by himself now. The first few matches they stood by the umpire’s chair and took note while the umpire in the chair was teaching.

“We hope they’ll become certified after this tournament and then we won’t have to bring in as many chair umpires.

“It’s a cost to us bringing in foreign officials as we have to pay for their airfare, accommodation and meals.”

The singles champion will pocket $2,160 and 15 ATP points. The runner-up will receive $1,272 and eight points, while semi-finalists will earn $753 and four points each.

Players reaching the quarter-finals have a reward of $438 and two points, $258 and one point will go to those eliminated from the round of 16 and $156 for the round of 32.

In the doubles, the top prize is $935 for the winning pair, $544 for the runners-up, $325 for the semi-finalists, $191 for the quarter-finalists and $108 for the round of 16.