Andrew Bray and Ashley Brooks secured their respective Grand Slams with little fuss at the Southampton Grand Prix on Saturday ? though the ease of victory leant a somewhat anticlimactic feel to the end of the 2006 tennis season.

As widely expected, the 30-year-old Bray proved too strong for former Bermuda number one Michael Way in the last major men?s final of the year, beating the occasionally hot-headed veteran 6-3, 6-2 in just over an hour and a half.

And though it looked at one stage as if Brooks would be pushed hard by number two seed Leonie MacLoughlin, a pinched nerve in the Englishwoman?s neck prompted her to withdraw from the encounter having lost a close-fought first set 6-4.

While on occasion Bray had trouble coming to terms with Way?s wicked sliced backhands which skidded through low off the concrete courts at the Whaler Inn, in general the accountant from Pinner, north London was comfortably in control of proceedings, moving his opponent around the court with aplomb to exploit Way?s evident lack of fitness and limited mobility.

Though Way conquered Bray?s serve twice in the first set, it was his inability to hold on to his own which proved ultimately to be his undoing, with the former Loughborough University star breaking his nearest rival for the third time in the set to take the opener 6-3.

A long, exhausting rally at the start of the second which ended in favour of Bray and had Way leaning on his racquet and sucking desperately at the air epitomised the difference between the two players.

But to his credit, the Davis Cup stalwart from the Island?s best-known tennis family remained fiercely competitive even with the match slipping away ? though occasionally that fiery streak boiled over as, in a fit of rage, he hurled his racquet violently into the net after squandering an opportunity for a much-needed break at 3-1 down.

?I?m very happy with the way I played,? said the BLTA, Argus and Island Construction Open champion afterwards, who was watched as usual by girlfriend Susie Mills, herself a former junior national tennis champion in the UK who reportedly is thinking about making a serious comeback next year.

?The score might not show it but it was not a straightforward match by any means. Mike?s a very good player and he started to come back mid-way through the second set so I just couldn?t afford to take my foot off the gas, so to speak.?

Having won everything there is to win on the domestic scene, the problem for Bray now could well be a lack of incentive to keep playing and improving ? but he laughed off the suggestion that there was now very little left to play for.

?I?m expecting James (Collieson, Bray?s biggest rival until an extended break due to injury) to be back next year once he gets his wrist sorted out, and if selected of course, there?s the Island Games in Rhodes,? he said.

?So there?s always something to look forward to and next year will be no different.?

Brooks, meanwhile, was similarly pleased with her achievement ? though she expressed disappointment afterwards that the final had ended in the way it did.

?Obviously I would have liked to have won it rather than her pulling out so ? it would have been nice to play the whole match,? said Brooks, who deferred her entry to Southern University in Louisiana on a tennis scholarship until the end of next year to spend time coaching tennis locally.

?I didn?t play that well today though to give her credit she made it difficult for me at times and it was shame she had the injury because it could have been a good game.?

In the Men?s B final, 13-year-old Frederick Wade beat Dennis Harris 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 while in the Ladies B Clare Warburton overcame Catherine Cooke 7-6, 4-6, 6-4.

And in the C Division, Wade secured his second title of the week by beating Lamar Cross in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 while Courtney Fisher defeated Charmaine Thomas 6-4, 2-6, 7-5.