Andy Bray all but solidified his position as the Island?s leading tennis player over the weekend when he overpowered top seed James Collieson 7-5, 6-3 to take the CBC Invitational Men?s Open Singles title at Coral Beach Club.

In a surprising show of sheer power, Bray, seeded second to Collieson, found his ?zone? with a blazing serve and sprayed unbelievable winners, almost at will, all over the court.

The accuracy of his strokes, coupled with devastating speed and placement, took the rhythm out of Collieson?s game early and the Bermuda Davis Cup player was unable to counter the multitude of shots that Bray sent across the net.

Bray unleashed a stunning nine aces and 11 other serves that Collieson barely got his racquet to.

But that wasn?t the way the action started as Collieson staked his early claim by breaking Bray with an unbelievable backhand shot that zipped past his opponent just as he attacked the net. He then held with two forehand shots down the line, another one that cleaned the baseline tape and finally hit a slicing backhand cross court that left Bay swiping at air to take a 2-0 lead.

That?s when the tide changed, Bray unleashing winner after winner and before the crowd could catch their breath the score was knotted at 2-2.

Then came possibly the game of the entire match, even the entire week, when the players shared nine deuces, three break points and five game points before Bray held for a 3-2 lead.

The fact that Collieson let that game slip away appeared to alter his strategy, and that opened the door for Bray although the first set went to 4-4, then 5-5.

Despite an array of brilliant shots by Bray, Collieson hung tight until the 11th game when he failed to convert two break points for a 6-5 lead, the second a ?gimme? when the top seed hit an easy forehand top spin shot into the net. The momentum shifted to Bray and he eased through the 12th game for the first set by breaking Collieson, again after deuce.

The second set was tight for six games but when the score was 3-2 in favour of Bray, and the possibility of a third set on the horizon, Collieson was broken as Bray smashed his serve to level the set at 3-3. It was all downhill for Collieson from thereon.

?He (Bray) just played consistently well today and I couldn?t get my serve going while his was just beating into the clay and he didn?t let up for the entire game,? said Collieson.

?When your opponent plays at that level, especially his first serves, there is nothing that you can do but hang in and wait for your break. The sad thing for me is that break never came today.?

As far as the new champion, playing in his first CBC Invitational, was concerned: ?I just hit a groove from the beginning and never let up.?

But Collieson gained sweet revenge in the Men?s Open Doubles when he teamed with the wily Mike Curry to defeat Bray and newcomer to the big time, Chris Watson, 7-6 (11-9), 6-3.

Watson?s backhand deserted him for the entire game, but never moreso than in that exhilarating tiebreak that went for 20 points. The second set was a runaway with Collieson and Curry jumping off to a 5-1 lead and Curry showing his experience by ending the match with a brilliant backhand crosscourt shot at the net.

That turned out to be Curry?s second title of the day for he had earlier teamed with Gill Butterfield to defeat Heidi Boyle and Mark Cordeiro in one of the comebacks of the tournament.

Trailing 4-1 in the first set, Curry took charge, carrying Butterfield, who appeared to be still in a celebratory mood after her birthday party the night before, and the crowd on a ride that went from 1-4 to 6-4 and the first set, winning 12 of 14 games for the championship.

Women?s top seed Laverne Stowe endured a mixed day, winning the Open title with a gutsy 6-2, 6-4 victory over Kelly Holland. She then quit her Ladies 40 final against Jo Tucker when she was 3-0 down in the first set.

That decision took away the lustre from her earlier victory and left a bad taste in everyone?s mouth, including Stowe?s who said she had just eaten and not all of what she ate wanted to stay in her stomach.

In the Ladies consolation final Carrol Reid came from a 4-0 deficit to defeat a hobbling Tracy Terrell 10-6 for the crown, while Peter Harvey took home the men?s single title with a comprehensive 7-5, 6-3 victory over Eugene Simmons.

Meanwhile, the man in the tennis news all week, Sam Maybury, stunned a packed clubhouse during the prize presentations following the week-long tournament when he asked for the microphone from none other than Margie Way, and to a hushed audience publicly apologised to Mrs. Way.

It wasn?t a long speech, he simply said: ?I would like to apologise to Mrs. Way,? and then showed his class by moving away from the microphone to embrace her and plant a kiss on the cheeks.

Maybury had last weekend accused Way of discriminatory remarks regarding his dreadlocks and in a newspaper article said he would no longer tolerate derogatory comments, particularly in tennis circles, about his Rastafarian lifestyle.