two days of action in the 68th Coral Beach and Tennis Club Invitational -- even though he has yet to win a match.

At the age of 82, Thompson, of Bridgehampton, New York, is the oldest participant in the annual event and in three matches so far he has forced his younger opponents to the brink of defeat.

In his opening match, Thompson was on court for nearly two hours before losing to Kevin McCormack 6-3, 7-5.

He then teamed up with his daughter Sally in the Century Mixed only to lose again, this time to Juanita Shaw and John Scalia 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

If that wasn't enough, Thompson later came back to force Bermudian Robin Blackburne to battle for more than two hours to force a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 victory.

This is the year of the older person and Thompson, looking as fresh after nearly six hours on the court as he did when he started his first game, said he had tried to take advantage of the occasion. "But no-one seemed in an accommodating mood.'' Meanwhile, only one of the top seeds saw action yesterday, King Van Nostrand, who made short work of David Whitman, winning 6-0, 6-0 the day after Whitman had battled for nearly four hours to defeat fellow American David White 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7-3).

In another marathon contest, Marj Gottscho and Vidor Lunoe defeated Irene Graham and David Bromley 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 while Bermudian Pat Pamplin teamed with New Yorker Kevin McCormack to oust the all-American pair of Ann Brown and Richard Marshall 6-4, 1-6, 7-5.

Despite the swirling winds, some 28 matches were played yesterday and 31 are scheduled to be played today which is the third day of the week-long tournament and a day when seniors will virtually have the courts to themselves.