Blaise Bicknell seeks big win on ITF tour
JAMAICA’S TOP tennis player, Blaise Bicknell, will contest the semi-finals of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) M-15 Championships today when he faces the tournament’s number one seed Michail Pervolarakis of Greece in Cancun, Mexico. The match is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Bicknell, who recently represented Jamaica in a World Group II Play-off first round Davis Cup tie in Greece, booked his place in the last four after his 7-6, 6-4 victory over Cesar Ramirez of Mexico.
“I am feeling good because this is my first semi-finals in an ITF tour professional tournament and I am going into this playing well,” said Bicknell.
“I am feeling very confident in myself and so I am looking forward to playing some great tennis,” he added.
Bicknell is expecting a very exciting encounter. Pervolarakis was beaten by Jamaica’s number two Randy Phillips in the Davis Cup Group Two Play-off in March.
“Randy (Phillips) defeated him earlier this year when we played Greece (Davis Cup Play-off ) and so I have watched him play and so I know that I just have to stay solid and move him around and hit my serves well and I should be fine,” he said. “I know that I have it in me to go all the way in this tournament and win it and so I am just going to stay focused and keep on doing what I have been so far in this tournament.”
The 20-year-old Bicknell, who is ranked 1022 in the world, added that he has been making steady improvements in the game in 2022.
“I have been improving a lot because I have been getting a lot of exposure on the professional circuit and so I am really building up now and getting everything right and everything is really coming together now,” he said.
Philips failed to get past the qualifying round of the tournament earlier this week.