Lee rallies past Rastguiy in Coconut Classic

Lee, who won singles and doubles crowns with the selected squad that competed in Australia last December and January, fell behind Rastguiy, 1-4, before regaining her bearings and prevailing in the last seven games to steal the win in the round-robin tournament last Saturday at the American Memorial Park tennis court.

Lee and Rastguiy had only one match in Week 1 of the two-weekend competition and will have their remaining games this weekend. Also seeing action in the opening week was Mikayla Lopez, who eased past Alina Ishikawa, 8-1.

Meanwhile, three other age groups contests in the girls singles had their opening week games.
In the girls U12, which also had a round-robin format, Coume Kaga booked back-to-back wins. She first dominated Riko Ojima last Saturday, 8-1, and then topped Jireh Warren last Sunday, 8-3. Warren earlier won her opening game, downing Susan Sablan, 8-3. Completing the Week 1 winners in the girls U12 singles was Conatsu’s sister Coume, who shut out Sablan, 8-0.

In the girls U14 singles, Ami Tsukagoshi and Malika Miyawaki ousted separate foes to join Julia Ishikawa and Tania Tan in the semifinals. Tsukagoshi coasted past Grace Choi, 8-1, last Saturday to arrange a semis date with Ishikawa, who drew a bye in the opening week and is seeded first in the division.

Tan also had a bye in Week 1 and will be battling Miyawaki in the lower bracket semis pairing. Miyawaki marched into the Final Four after an 8-2 triumph over Mimi Sakano last Sunday.
In the girls U10, only two semis berths are left after Week 1 matches were played at the AMP tennis courts.

Erika Tuttle and Maaya Sato secured the first two Final Four slots after recording contrasting wins over the weekend. Tuttle drew a bye in the first round and then whipped Tiara Imai, 6-2, to nab a semis seat in the top half of the bracket. She will face in the semifinals the winner between top-ranked Hana Ojima and Hye Jin Elliot, who won over Erie Ortega.

In the bottom half, Sato pulled off a 7-5 triumph over Ellie Epley to enter the semifinal round against the victor of the quarterfinal duel between Marielle Lopez and No. 2 seed Maria Gregoire. Lopez won his competitive tennis debut last Sunday after outclassing Shaira Valle, 6-2.