T&T's Luke De Caires and Breana Stampfli both lost their second round matches after winning the first set during the ITF Copa Merengue Tennis Tournament in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic yesterday. The ninth seeded De Caires was defeated by Mexico's Jose Andres Illescas Maury, who staged an unlikely comeback after De Caires took the first set 0-6. The Mexican turned things around by winning the second 6-1 before edging De Caires in the third 6-4. The Fatima College student had defeated Colombia's Camilo Vela Montano 6-2, 6-2 in the first round earlier this week.
In the Boys Doubles, De Caires and his American partner Matthew Cravinhos were granted a first round walkover by Shaun Nguyen of the USA and Venezuela's Thomas Tenreiro. The pair were next set to face Mexicans Eduardo Bringold and Ignacio Plascencia Yanez. Meanwhile, Stampfli went down to Australian Naomi Tran 5-7, 6-2, 6-1, having earlier earned her spot in the second round by whipping Amit Gavrieli of Israel 6-0, 6-1. Pairing with Honduras's Ilonka Jiminez, she was eliminated in the first round of the Girls' Doubles by American Elysse Graci and Australian Naomi Tran 6-2, 6-0.