BAHAMAS girls doubles team of Saphirre and Bre-Ann Ferguson, duo on the left, beside their St Lucia opponents.

Djokovic was a bit rusty on his return from a few weeks off after overcoming a hamstring problem in Australia to win his recordequalling 22nd Grand Slam singles title. He led 4-1 in the third set Tuesday before the 130th-ranked Machac forced a tiebreaker.

“He was giving me all kinds of trouble, but I guess when it mattered I found another gear,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “I haven’t played much tennis (recently), so I’m hoping as the tournament progresses I can raise the level.”

Djokovic, who next faces Tallon Griekspoor, is 13-0 this season and extended his overall winning streak to 18 matches.

A presentation was held after yesterday’s match to recognise Djokovic’s 378th week in the ATP’s top spot, surpassing Steffi Graf’s 377 leading the WTA.

“As a young boy growing up in Serbia, I dreamt of two things — winning Wimbledon and being No. 1 in the world. I’ve been blessed to achieve both of my childhood dreams, several times,” he said. Also yesterday, thirdseeded Daniil Medvedev beat Matteo Arnaldi 6-4, 6-2 to extend his winning streak to 10 matches.

Fourth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated Maxime Cressy 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-3 and Botic van de Zandschulp beat sixth-seeded Karen Khachanov 7-5, 6-2.

“SuperClubs Breezes need people to work. Depending on the calibre of people they meet at the job fair, they will hire. They want to transition people from part-time to full-time. iHop has already hired 180. They are moving aggressively to open two more sites, so they will be looking to hire an additional 400.

“We have companies like Ocean Cay, which deals with the island. We have Royal Caribbean looking for some 160. It’s difficult to say how many, but a number of employers have indicated they are excited about the opportunity to choose Bahamians to work in their various businesses.”

Among the employers who will be present on Saturday, between 9am and 3pm, will be the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC); Fusion Superplex; Aetos Holdings (Wendy’s, Marco’s Pizza and Popeyes: Sysco Bahamas (formerly Bahamas Food Services); Commonwealth Brewery; SMG Construction; ICS Security Services; Sandals Emerald Bay; Blue Lagoon; AML Foods; FML Group of Companies; Super Value; John Bull; AML Foods; Albany; and Fidelity Bank.

“Between New Providence and Grand Bahama, we’ve held nine ‘Labour on the Blocks’ since May 2022, and we estimate they’ve employed at little over 3,000 from those job fairs. That was New Providence, Grand Bahama and Abaco,” Mr Farquharson said.

“Because of the partnerships we have developed we have a pretty good idea of what type employers need, so we are seeking to align those persons in our database and encourage them to come out. The database has close to 65,000 persons registered, but it doesn’t mean they are all unemployed.”

Asked whether all Bahamians seeking work will be able to find it, Mr Farquharson replied: “I can say without a doubt that there are a lot of employment opportunities and vacancies out there. That’s one of the reasons why we have Labour on the Blocks. We know there are opportunities out there, so we bring job seekers and employers together in one place.

“I think for most Bahamians looking for work there are opportunities, particularly in the construction field. We have a number of projects coming online in the pipeline in Grand Bahama, Abaco