Tobiah Goodchild’s dream of a first international tournament win overseas in the Cotecc (Central American & Caribbean Tennis Confederation) Under-14 San Jose Bowl was ended in the semi-finals on Thursday.

Goodchild lost 2-6, 2-6 in the singles to the No. 2 seed Antonio Bermudez, from Costa Rica, and 3-6, 3-6 in the doubles with his partner Samuel Bryce but can look back on his tournament run with pride.

Coach Steve Bean has been travelling with Goodchild and was pleased to see the youngster play well against an extremely talented opponent.

“Tobiah started the first set well and there were some long rallies,” Bean said.

“It was apparent that the player Tobiah faced does not miss. He holds a western grip, drops back from the baseline about six feet and just runs down everything and gets everything back.

“He was a real counter-puncher and Tobiah tried some different things but whenever he tried to press for points, going flat up the line to try to end the point after long rallies, he would hit a couple of winners but would miss more than he was making, hence the score got away from him.

“I can’t coach him during the game but I would have suggested trying to bring the guy into the net and to try some slices. On the odd occasion he did that, he got a few points and moved the guy off the court, but he would have needed an Alcaraz-type game to beat this kid or needed to set up to hit 20-30 ball rallies.

“He lost to a really good player. He was a little upset but I told him that it just requires consistency. Now they know what I mean when I tell them they are missing too much, you have to rely on consistency as you can’t just come in and smack winners on these guys.

“The good players put the ball back into play and you have to build points and you may have to go to the net or bring the other guy in. It was an eye-opener for him but I thought he played well. He was a little teary-eyed but got himself back together before the doubles.

Bean was pleased with the way Goodchild coped in the doubles as he was partnered by an inferior player.

“He lost 6-3, 6-3 in the doubles, but it was a good showing by Tobiah as his partner was behind the level of everybody else,” Bean said.

“His partner, though, was a real nice guy who tried his hardest and fought hard so you couldn’t really knock him. If he had not played with Tobiah, we would not even have been in the doubles so he was thankful.

“All in all, it was a good week’s work. The time, the money, was well worth it and he is stimulated now to come back home, continue to work hard and improve. Hopefully, he’ll be able to travel again in the summer and develop his game.