Rebecca Edwards

JERSEY’S ladies’ tennis team suffered a devastating loss in the bronze medal play off yesterday in what turned out to be a controversial fixture.

Rebecca Edwards had a tough opener against the Aland number one Linda Jansson whose flavour for the drop shot was testing enough for any player, let alone the captain of a side going into her third match in two days, and she lost 7-5, 6-0.

In the second match Katie Gouyette was taking on the Aland No 2 Lisa Lundberg and lost the first set 6-4 but had to call the referee to the match following some dubious calls as manager Matt Harris explained.

He said: ‘The Aland girl kept saying the ball was out and showing the incorrect mark on the clay court suggesting the ball had bounced out. She also said that she forgot the score when Katie had won a game and alleged that it was only 30-30.

‘There were Aland supporters getting involved when they shouldn’t be and it was quite a controversy so the referee was called and it took about five or ten minutes to sort out.

‘He then ruled to play the game from 30-30 and credit to Katie as although she lost that game she fought back to win the set 7-5.’ However, it was the home island’s day as Lundberg sneaked the win 10-6 in the championship tiebreak.

With the team event over Edwards is set to take on Carrol Reid from the Cayman Islands in the individual singles while Gouyette faces Aland’s Pauline Nordland.

Kirsten McArthur is back in action playing against Saaremaa’s Krete Teder and Eva Moynihan makes her Island Games debut against the Isle of Wight’s Annetta Packenham-Walsh.

In the men’s singles Matt Harris travelled all the way to Aland only to meet Guernsey’s Chris Hickling in the first round. Speaking after his 7-5, 6-2 victory he said: ‘It wasn’t the greatest of games as we were both pretty nervous and it was bad timing for Chris as while he was playing me everyone else were cheering Guernsey on in their team match on the next court.

‘It was a shame travelling all the way here to face a guy I could meet back at home in a number of events but a win is a win.’

Harris’ reward for his efforts is a game against the eighth seed Gotland’s Alec Arho Havren while James Faudemer bounced back from a tough team game earlier in the week to beat the Isle of Man’s Jamie Teare 6-3, 6-2 and now takes on Aland’s Peter Forsstrom.

James Connolly had a bye in the first round and will next play the Isle of Man’s James Buxton while Andrew Evans has pulled out of the singles with his adductor injury forcing him to focus on the mixed doubles.