A cantankerous Alex Gough clung on for more than an hour before finally succumbing to the long-limbed Cameron Pilley in an engrossing second game of the day at BHS yesterday.

The veteran Welshman Gough, ranked ten places above his Australian opponent, did his best to recover from two games down but just as his fightback looked at its strongest, he blew a 9-4 lead in the fourth game to force an early exit from the Virtual Spectator Bermuda Masters.

Gough, who was the opponent when James Stout withdrew injured from his second round tie in the Commonwealth singles in Melbourne earlier this month, engaged in a running battle with the referee throughout the contest which contributed greatly to his losing the first game 11-9 after a perceived bad call when 9-8 up.

He grunted, moaned and complained through the second, losing 11-7 before finally regaining his form and using all his wily skills to gain a mental advantage over his younger, more placid opponent.

He claimed a hard-fought third 11-9 and looked set to take the match to a decider before losing seven straight points from 9-4 up in the fourth.

The opening match of the day yesterday on the all-glass court by contrast was a one-sided affair with number two seed Anthony Ricketts flexing his muscles in an early display of strength, downing Dutchman Laurens Jan Anjema 11-2, 11-5, 11-6.

Clearly keen to extricate himself from the first round with the minimum possible effort, Ricketts raced to a 9-0 lead in the first and never looked back, managing to get off the court in less than 30 minutes.

?It was 3-0 but that was a tough match,? said Ricketts rather unconvincingly.

?I had to go hard all the way through, I am pleased to get past LJ.?