Bermudian Michael Way, the top seed in the men?s open singles competition of the 72nd BLTC Invitational at the Coral Beach Tennis Club, may be the only person in Bermuda with a kind word for Hurricane Fabian.

A woefully out of condition Way will live to fight later today against unseeded Swiss Reto Kraver because Fabian destroyed the floodlights on the courts and when darkness fell he was dragging everything, including his racquet.

Despite having won the first set 6-3, and at one stage leading 3-0 in the second, in the end he had to call on all of his experience, and what reserve he had left, in order to stave off defeat in the second. It was left at 5-5.

Kraver, a lefthander with power, finesse and loads of ability, must be kicking himself after his spirited turnaround from 0-3, then 3-4 and 5-4 when he was serving for the set.

At 5-0 and serving Kraver jumped off to a quick 30-0 lead following a great forehand deep to Way?s forehand that brushed the dirt off the baseline, then followed that up with another tape cleaner to Way?s backhand.

Sensing victory, Kraver appeared to forget for a moment that Way, though tired and out of condition, was still a wily, experienced opponent, who quickly showed his opponent just that.

Two points short of levelling the match at one set apiece, Way dug deep to came up with a brilliant running forehand across court with Kraver racing in the opposite direction to make the score 30-15. Way then hit a perfect drop shot on Kraver?s blistering serve to level the score at 30-30.

Kraver regrouped and moved Way from side to side then rushed the net to put away a mishit by Way to take a 40-30 lead and one set point.

However, Way wasn?t ready to capitulate yet and stayed alive when his running backhand nipped the top of the net and over Kraver?s racquet for deuce.

Way then levelled the set at 5-5 with two great points, a backhand that caught Kraver on the wrong foot and then he forced Kraver to try for a forehand cross-court shot that agonisingly missed the line tape. The match will be completed this afternoon, time enough for Way to recover and Kraver to rue his missed opportunities.

Meanwhile, in one of the great comebacks of the tournament, Ann Manning and John Moore came from a set down and trailing 1-4 in the second to oust the seeded pair of Gill Butterfield and Dick Mount 3-6,6-4, 6-2 to move into the semi-finals of the Century Mixed competition.

A surprised Mount said: ?Ann played fantastic.

?She raised the level of her game in the second set and never let up. That was totally unexpected.?

Mount said that he and Butterfield expected Moore to come good after a slow start, but never did he and his partner expect Manning to play so well.

?The more we attacked her the more points she won for her team and there was just nothing we could do,? he said. ?She raised the level of her game and didn?t come down until the match was over. She was just brilliant. What can I say??

Manning, still buoyed by that victory, later teamed up with Erika Hendricks to defeat Carol Reid and C. Warburton 6-1, 7-6 (7-2) in the Ladies Doubles Open to move into the semi-final.

Today she and Moore will face the defending champions and heavily favoured top seeds Nanny Vanneck and Ted Hoehn.

In other interesting matches yesterday, Earl Leader defeated second seed Ron Groff 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) in the semi-finals of the Men?s Singles 55, and will face top seed Ted Hoehn, who defeated George Lynch 6-2, 6-3.

Top seed Kelly Holland had to stay focused in order to oust Carol Reid 6-2, 6-4, while the Mixed Doubles tandem of Oliver Bain and Jo Tucker lost twice, first to Holland and Rito Kraver 7-5, 6-3 and then to Earl Leader and Janet Green 6-3, 6-1.