BY DAHALIA SMITH ,NG Sports Reporter, Dahalia@nasguard.com

Danielle Thompson, her father Stephen Thompson playing in the men's doubles' division along with partner Brent Johnson were crowned champions of the 15th Automotive Industrial Distributors (AID) Tennis Championships that wrapped up at the Gym Tennis Club Saturday night.

Top seed Danielle took on second seed Paula Whitfield in the open women's final and won convincingly, 6-1 and 6-0 at the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association sanctioned event.

In the men's double, junior veteran (over 35) championship, top seeds' Stephen and Johnson struggled for a three set victory over second seeds' George Baxter/Harrington Saunders, 6-3, 2-6 and 6-4.

Open women's champion and Saint Augustine's College eighth grader, Danielle also celebrated her advancement to the Esso Junior Championship final on the same weekend.

"In the first set of the AID event I just played my game, kept the ball in play and when I had the opportunity for a shot I went for it. It was more of the same thing in the second set but more open shot opportunities were afforded.

"The victory was somewhat easy so throughout the match I decided to use the final to work on my service and consistency. In the end I was impressed with my service, however, there is still room for improvement in the consistency department," explained Daniel.

Whitfield on the other hand explained that she needs more playing exposure in order to be very competitive in tournaments and encourages other women in the junior veteran division to participate in tournaments.

One half of the men's championship team, Stephen, said after the match: "This match was tougher than we expected. We went out there and took our opponents too lightly and they ended up serving and playing the net well. Then we got caught in a slow game and before we knew it we were fighting for our lives.

"So it was good that we were able to get a good lead in the third set and held service to come out on top."

Johnson explained that recapturing their championship from 2005 and 2006 was commendable.

"I am accustomed to seeing our opponents participate in singles' play. However, they proved to be formidable opponents in doubles' action. So their skill level as a team caught us by surprise and we had to step up to the plate in order to win," noted Johnson.

Meanwhile Baxter who has played in this tourney for over 10 years was satisfied with his side's effort.

"Despite the loss we had some good moments but at times we missed out on chances to score points. Overall, those guys played well and were consistent. That was the difference in the match, a few points," Baxter said.

Saunders was impressed with his first year doubles' partner, Baxter.

"This was the first time I played in doubles' competition in the AID event. I really thought that we had the potential to beat them. However, we got over confident and did not play like we did early on in the match.

"In the second set, we had a good momentum going into the third set but lost it and could not regain control of the match," he noted.

AID representative Harold Watson who watched both finals said they were enjoyable and explained why the company is so committed to the Championships.

"We support the Championships because we want to promote the sport of tennis for the benefit of our youngsters in particular. Furthermore, we encourage healthy recreation through tennis for all ages. The thing about tennis is that persons of all ages can enjoy playing it," said Watson.