Three of Bermuda's top juniors participating in the 18's singles competition were victorious in their first round matches at the Bank of Bermuda/ITF world Ranking Junior Tournament which started yesterday at the WER Joell Tennis Stadium.

Bermudian Carolita Joseph caused the first upset of the day when she took out American player Deirdre Cienki in a convincing straight sets win, 6-3, 6-0.

With the crowd behind him, Bermuda's number one boys junior Na'im Azhar looked energised and confident as he made easy work of the number eight seed Devard Wharton of Barbados with a straight sets win.

Bermudian Caitlin Gordon had to battle back after losing the first set against American Chelsea Finnegan.

Throughout the match the opponents traded breaks of serve but it was Gordon who pulled out the win in three sets.

"It felt really good to beat Chelsea as I hadn't played her since losing to her here in 2004. I felt back then that I hadn't really developed as a player but I'm more confident now and playing in front of the Bermudian crowd helps motivate me. I'm hoping that confidence helps me get past Nicola George in the second round," Gordon said.

In the Boys 14's singles, Neal Towlson prevailed in a close tie-break over American Shawn Hadavi in his eight-game pro-set.

Not so lucky in their first round matches were Bermudians John Holland, George Skater, Matteo Frazzoni, Cayla Cross, Alexander Cooper, Gina Downes, Nicholas Butterfield and Freddy Wade.

Tournament Director David Lambert said, "This being our fifth year offers our top juniors an opportunity to compete against some of the best juniors from sixteen nations right here in Bermuda and we're pleased to see our juniors achieve strong results. This is a true testament to the strong development programs being offered locally."

Play continues today with matches starting at 10 a.m.. The general public is encouraged to come out and support the players.