Gavin Manders made a winning start to the season after defeating Jenson Bascome in the Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association’s Open Singles Challenge at Coral Beach Club on Saturday.

Manders, Bermuda’s No 1 player, came back from 5-2 down to win the first set 7-5 before powering to a 6-1 victory in the second.

The 29-year-old admitted that his performance had been far from his best, but was relieved to win the inaugural tournament, which served as mandatory qualification to Bermuda’s team for the Davis Cup and Fed Cup.

He added that his mental resilience was the key to his entertaining victory over his old adversary, Bascome.

“I’m pleased with the way I fought mentally, but I didn’t play my best tennis at all today,” Manders said.

“Mentally I was as tough as I’ve ever been. I was down 5-2 ... 5-3 40-love and not really playing very well, but I was able to dig deep and continued to fight to pull out the first set.

“That gave me a lot of hope for the second set, knowing that I could only play better.

“I think that was the turning point for me rather than for [Bascome]. He’s an experienced player and doesn’t break down. He came back from 6-love in the semi-finals [against Sam Butler] to take control and win the game.”

Manders said his main aims this season were to remain Bermuda’s No 1 and become the island’s most successful player in Davis Cup.

The left-hander needs just one more singles victory to achieve that feat.

“I want to continue to be an ambassador for Bermuda overseas and show the world that although we’re a small island, we want it just as bad as everyone else,” he said.

In the women’s round-robin competition, Kayla Ming claimed the title after winning all three of her matches.

Included in the 14-year-old Warwick Academy pupil’s scalps were two of her coaches, Jackie and Tara Lambert.

Ming, who at 14 is likely too young to be considered for Bermuda’s Fed Cup squad, said she was thrilled to win her first title at the elite level.

“I feel really good because I worked really hard and enjoyed myself,” Ming said.

“I just did my best and this is my first women’s singles tournament victory.

“I beat my coaches, so that was really great.”

Michael Wolfe, the BLTA president, reflected on a successful first tournament since being voted in last month.

He added that the BLTA and Coral Beach Club planned for the Open Singles Challenge to become an annual competition.

“It’s been a very good tournament, especially having come together just three ago,” he said.

“Coral Beach has been a wonderful venue, the tennis was very competitive and I think the crowd really enjoyed it.

“It was the first [BLTA] event held at Coral Beach for quite some time and came about after some correspondence between myself, Ricky Mallory [the Bermuda coach] and Patrick Singleton [the Coral Beach Club sports director].

“We’re already looking to build on this relationship and do other things here in the future.”

The Davis Cup will be held in Panama in July, while the Fed Cup will be staged in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in June.

Wolfe said both teams, who are presently training at Coral Beach, will announced in the coming weeks.