Bermuda Under-13 tennis coach Jerome Bradshaw has spoken of his 'elation and relief' after watching his team successfully defend their ITF Caribbean Development Championships team title.

Aside from defending their team title in Curacao, Chris Rego, the sole survivor from last year's side which won the championships in Trinidad and Tobago, claimed the singles boys' crown and, along with James Finnigan, finished runner-up in the doubles event.

Finnigan came third overall in the boys' singles while Eva Frazzoni finished runner-up in the girls' singles after losing to Kiana Marshall of Barbados.

Bradshaw praised the way the players handled the extra pressure of being the top seeded team and said they played like true champions throughout last week's competition.

"There's the talk of being the champion nation, you're the top seed going into the event and because of this you feel you have to justify your position," he said.

"Having repeated as the champion nation, there's elation and relief, particularly for the coach. The coach does not have to field questions of what went wrong. People now want to know the winning formula.

"It was very noticeable how calm and composed the Bermuda players were. They did not get caught up in the highs and lows. There were no outbursts or negative gestures if a mistake was made."

Bradshaw is confident all four players will continue to improve and expects them to be involved in next year's Under-14s Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup.

"It was very pleasing to see Chris Rego win the boys' singles after falling just short the year before. He can proudly say he is the champion boy for 2010.

"Eva Frazzoni missed out in the final but she now knows what is necessary for the next step. Eva is only 12 so if this age bracket is repeated for 2011, she can get another crack at it."

"Chris is attending Evert Tennis Academy, in Florida, while Taylor will be working with an independent instructor in a stepped up environment at the end of her daily classes.

"We encourage them all keep up the good work and build on what they have. Opportunities will come again in 2011 in the next age group events, such as the Under-14s, Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup."