The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Tennis Association (SVGTA) has officially declared the international leg of the annual Tennis Fest 2026 a resounding success. For three consecutive weeks, the SVG National Tennis Centre at Villa Flat became a bustling hub of world-class junior tennis, hosting 76 of the finest young players from up to 18 countries across the globe.

Represented nations included St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, Mexico, Colombia, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Hong Kong, Australia, Israel, France, and the Netherlands. The three featured international events—the COTECC SVG Chatoyer U14 tournament and two back-to-back J30 Kingstown U18 tournaments—delivered high-stakes drama, historic local achievements, and exceptional displays of athleticism.

Kicking off the international swing from July 25 to 29, the COTECC SVG Chatoyer U14 tournament was utterly dominated by Guatemala’s top-seeded Ian Lemcke Morales. Ranked number seven in the COTECC region, Lemcke Morales put on a masterclass, capturing both the singles and doubles crowns with dropping only a handful of games.

In the singles group stage, Lemcke Morales set a ruthless tone with identical 6-0, 6-0 victories over Vincentian competitors Taien Harry and Isaiah Smart. He maintained his flawless form in the quarterfinals, defeating Zion Byfield-Grant 6-0, 6-0. The top seed faced his toughest challenge of the week in the semifinals, where he went head-to-head with top Vincentian junior and defending champion Ethan Kent, ultimately prevailing 6-4, 6-0. The final was a swift affair, with Lemcke Morales dismissing the number two seed, Cruz Thornton of Barbados, 6-1, 6-0 to secure his maiden COTECC singles title.

Lemcke Morales and Thornton then joined forces as the number one seeds in the doubles draw. Following a first-round bye, they dispatched the Vincentian duo of Zion Byfield-Grant and Rio Marks-Dasent 6-0, 6-0 in the semifinals. In the championship match, they defeated the second-seeded pairing of Eli Paty of Trinidad and Tobago and Ethan Kent with a solid 6-3, 6-3 performance.

Local fans found reason to celebrate in the consolation draw, as Vincentian Rio Marks-Dasent claimed the Boys Singles Consolation title by defeating fellow countryman Darryl Richards 6-0, 6-4. Due to a low number of entries, the Girls U14 division of the tournament was not held.

Despite missing out on the championship trophies, local Vincentian players earned critical regional ranking points. The updated COTECC rankings as of August 16 reflect their hard-fought efforts:

Ethan Kent — 140.50 points (Ranked #22)Zion Byfield-Grant — 13.50 points (Ranked #108)Zion Reece — 13.50 points (Ranked #108)Isaiah Smart — 11.75 points (Ranked #115)Darryl Richards — 4.50 points (Ranked #153)Rio Marks-Dasent — 3.50 points (Ranked #167)

On August 2, the focus shifted to the older age group as the first WTTJ J30 Kingstown U18 tournament got underway. The Boys Singles division culminated in an extraordinary three-hour final, where Canada’s top-seeded Aaron-David Mefire Younzwe, ranked number 727, rallied from a set down to defeat the United Kingdom’s sixth seed, Charles Begg-Smith, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Mefire Younzwe’s road to the finals was highly impressive. In the round-robin group stage, he defeated Caiden Lin of the USA 6-1, 6-3; Martin Gonzalez-Garcia of Colombia 6-0, 6-3; and St. Vincent’s own Ethan Kent 6-1, 6-4. Entering the main draw, he overcame Kipton Roskaft of the USA 7-6(5), 7-5 in a tight quarterfinal and Trinidad and Tobago’s fifth seed Nirav Dougdeen 6-4, 6-1 in the semifinals.

Begg-Smith quickly redeemed himself in the doubles draw. Partnering with Justin Chan of Hong Kong as the third seeds, the pair received a first-round bye and went on to blank Barbadians Ammon Archer and Brandon Warren 6-0, 6-0 in the quarterfinals. They then defeated the second-seeded Trinidadian duo of Nirav Dougdeen and Josiah Hills 7-5, 6-2. In the final, Begg-Smith and Chan held off a fierce challenge from Canada’s Forrest Cao and the USA’s Kipton Roskaft to win 7-6(2), 7-6(6).

St. Vincent’s rising star Ethan Kent recorded the best local performance, achieving his maiden win on the WTTJ Circuit by defeating Caiden Lin of the USA in a dramatic 6-4, 3-6, 11-9 encounter. This milestone victory earned the promising youngster his first international junior world ranking of #3887.

On the girls’ side, Great Britain’s second-seeded Klara Andonegui Sehnalova, ranked number 771, captured the singles crown. Improving on her quarterfinal finish from the previous year, Andonegui Sehnalova received a first-round bye, defeated Kylie Gordon of the USA 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals, and overcame Emma Dobrean of the USA 6-3, 7-5 in the semifinals. In the final, she ground out a tough three-set victory over the top-seeded Sydney Wright of the USA, winning 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(6).

In girls’ doubles, the second-seeded team of Ka Hei Ma of Hong Kong and Charlotte Perks of Great Britain walked away with the trophy, defeating the top-seeded pairing of Sydney Wright and Klara Andonegui Sehnalova 6-2, 6-4. St. Vincent’s lone female representative in the first tournament, Zideh Griffith, suffered a 0-6, 0-6 defeat to Ka Hei Ma in singles, and fell 0-6, 3-6 in doubles while partnering with Kylie Gordon.

The second J30 Kingstown tournament commenced on August 9, and Canada’s Aaron-David Mefire Younzwe proved to be unstoppable. He cruised through his group stage matches, defeating Denney Estava of St. Lucia 6-2, 6-0; Brandon Warren of Barbados 6-1, 6-1; and Asher Mason Wong of Hong Kong 6-0, 6-0. In the main draw, his quarterfinal opponent, Mexico’s seventh seed David Alonso Llovera De Lasse, retired while Mefire Younzwe led 5-1. He then defeated Israel’s sixth seed Elai Wiesel 6-2, 6-1 in the semifinals, and claimed the championship when Great Britain’s second seed Antonin Kotak was forced to retire in the final with Mefire Younzwe leading 6-4, 1-0.

Mefire Younzwe then teamed up with Hong Kong’s Justin Chan as the second seeds to capture the doubles title. After a first-round bye, they defeated Tomas Guida of the USA and Travis Licorish of Barbados 6-3, 6-1 in the quarterfinals, and ousted the previous week’s finalists Forrest Cao and Kipton Roskaft 7-5, 6-2 in the semifinals. In the championship match, they comfortably defeated the top-seeded pair of Jayden Park of Hong Kong and Elai Wiesel 6-1, 6-3.

In the Girls Singles draw, USA’s top-seeded Sydney Wright, ranked number 443, went one step further than her runner-up finish the week prior. She cruised into the final, dropping only two games in her main draw matches with 6-1, 6-1 and 6-1, 6-0 victories over Jaelyn Henry of St. Lucia and Cybelle Ferrier of the Netherlands, respectively, followed by a 6-1, 6-0 semifinal victory over compatriot Kylie Gordon. In the final, the 16-year-old Wright triumphed in a grueling three-hour, three-set battle against Great Britain’s second seed, Charlotte Perks, winning 6-4, 6-7(0), 6-4.

In girls’ doubles, the unseeded team of Hoi Hei Hui of Hong Kong and Kylie Gordon of the USA pulled off a stunning championship run. After a first-round bye, they shocked the top seeds and defending champions, Ka Hei Ma and Charlotte Perks, with a 6-4, 6-4 victory in the quarterfinals. They survived a heated semifinal, winning 6-1, 2-6, 10-9 when their opponents defaulted for unsportsmanlike conduct, and steamrolled the second-seeded Trinidadian sisters Cyra and Suri Ramcharan 6-1, 6-0 in the final.

Vincentian girls showed increased participation and promising results in the second event. Madisenn Gonsalves partnered with singles champion Sydney Wright in the doubles draw, advancing to the semifinals with a convincing 6-1, 6-3 victory over Cybelle Ferrier and Jaelyn Henry. Though they were stopped in the semifinals by the second seeds Cyra and Suri Ramcharan (5-7, 4-6), the run earned Gonsalves her first international junior ranking of #4501. Local player Jadon Fraser also showed immense grit, taking St. Lucia’s Immanuel Charles to a deciding tiebreaker before falling 4-6, 6-0, 9-11 in his best performance of the tournament.

Sebastian Cyrus, Vice President of the SVGTA and Tournament Director, expressed his deep appreciation to all stakeholders who made the momentous occasion possible, thanking the players, coaches, parents, officials, physiotherapists, groundstaff, fellow executive members, and the tournament’s generous sponsors, the National Lotteries Authority and Koscab SVG Ltd.

“The successful completion of Tennis Fest’s international leg signifies much for the SVGTA,” Cyrus stated, emphasizing that the event provides a vital platform of international exposure that benefits homegrown Vincentian players year after year, while simultaneously elevating the standards of local officiating.

Local tennis fans will not have to wait long for more action. The final event of the Tennis Fest 2026 series, the highly anticipated National Open & Masters tournament, is scheduled to take place from September 21 to 27, 2026.