Steve Bean and Ricky Mallory believe their hard-fought victory at Pomander Gate last weekend should finally end the debate surrounding which doubles team gets to represent Bermuda at next year's Davis Cup.

The duo grabbed a dramatic, three-set thriller over Michael Way and Mike Curry on Sunday -- in a doubles match that many in the tennis community are hailing as one of the finest ever played locally.

A few hours earlier Mallory stunned Michael Way 6-4, 6-4 to win the men's A singles crown, as the soft-spoken Southampton resident continued to fashion his own remarkable comeback story of 1995.

Last year Mallory lost twice to Way in tournament finals.

As a team Mallory and Bean have rarely been beaten in tournaments, but Way and Curry grabbed the season opener at the Heineken Bermuda Open in May.

Mallory, however, was just a shadow of his former self during that tournament, playing competitively for only the first time in eight months. The 29-year-old former number one -- he turns 30 on July 13 -- was quickly banished to the sidelines in singles play, losing to Andrew Kennedy.

But as he continued to savour his two titles yesterday those setbacks in May seemed like a distant, gloomy memory. Mallory has proven once again that he is a major force in Island tennis.

And, according to Bean, his doubles partner for the last eight years, that prowess should extend far beyond the Island's borders.

"He got his tail kicked at the Heineken and the true champion that he is, well, he realised what he had to do to get ready for Pomander Gate so it wouldn't happen again,'' Bean said. "And this is the first time I've seen a level of commitment from Ricky as far as his tennis goes.'' Mallory rolled up his sleeves and got down to business following his loss to Kennedy.

"I knew what I had to do,'' Mallory said yesterday. "I knew I had to do some serious training. That's what I've got my doubles partner for. At Port Royal we did a lot of practising every day. A lot of running and exercising.'' Prior to his return to local tennis in May, Mallory concentrated exclusively on his schoolwork. Not only was tennis abandoned, but so was first division soccer -- what some believe to be the allround athlete's first love.

Mallory's singleminded devotion to his schooling in Philadelphia paid off -- he achieved a four-point average and straight As.

Just how far his tennis game plummeted, however, soon became evident during the season's first tournament. He also put on some weight which affected his speed on court.

"Ricky has had lay-off periods in the past, but he always played football,'' said Bean. "One of the first things that I noticed was how his conditioning was way below what it usually was. As a matter of fact, the first couple of times we worked out we probably could go for half an hour and even then he had to sit down and take breaks. He was getting dizzy he was so out of shape.'' With a fervent desire to play Davis Cup, Mallory got his act together and with Bean's help his tennis game got back on track.

But competing in international events wasn't Mallory's only incentive to do well.

"To tell you the truth what really made me hungry was the comment that Michael made.'' Following his qualifying round loss at the XL Bermuda Open in April, Way declared: "I don't see anyone in Bermuda coming up and bumping me off the number one spot.'' Said Mallory: "That motivated me, it sure did.

"The long lay-off and that comment made me hungry and I'm starting to enjoy tennis again. I had lost it for a while. I told Steve I had done everything locally, I've represented Bermuda three times and there was really nothing else for me to do. I had been number one for a few years.'' No strangers to being number one in doubles, Mallory and Bean said that after Sunday's victory the choice of a doubles team should no longer be a problem for the country's Davis Cup selectors.

"Ricky and I proved to all those who were in doubt that we are the best doubles team in Bermuda,'' said Bean, careful to praise Billy Way, his Davis Cup partner last March. "Ricky and I have played all kinds of combinations...you name it and we've played them and we've had our share of victories.

"So now when it comes to a Davis Cup or some other international commitment we've done all that we can to prove ourselves. On Sunday we proved it again.

We would like to make that known. We do not want to have to go and now try to prove ourselves over some other period. We've paid our dues and we deserve a chance...just once to play as a doubles team for Bermuda.'' Echoed Mallory: "I just feel that we should be the automatic pick for the doubles. I don't want there to be any nonsense about having trial matches.'' Mallory has been a prime consideration of the selectors since Bermuda, although battling valiantly, ended their first Davis Cup trip without a victory. On that team was the Way brothers, Bean and Donald Evans.

Although the next tournament is still nine months away, Evans now faces an uphill battle because of a knee injury, which has since forced him out of tennis for the remainder of the year.

But there's also James Collieson -- a rising junior star -- who could make the team because of his strong play.

Mallory, Michael Way, Collieson and former number one Steve Alger will compete in the Shell Tennis Challenge, a round robin event at the Tennis Stadium on Saturday beginning at 2 p.m.

Only that kind of line-up can keep the excitement alive after last weekend's Pomander finals.

"The doubles match is probably one of the best matches played in my life,'' said Mallory. "Even the spectators said it was one of the best doubles matches they've ever seen.'' Mallory and Bean spent Sunday night celebrating with close friends and the post-Pomander party did not draw to a close until 4 a.m.

"Ricky threw his racquet up in the air after our doubles win and he doesn't show his emotion on the tennis court, but he sure did after the singles and doubles,'' said Bean.

PERFECT PAIR -- Ricky Mallory (left) and Steve Bean have been one of Bermuda's most successful doubles teams in the last eight years.