Colin, Andy near finale

Colin Ramsey, right, approaches the net for a return, while teammate Andy Kim looks on during the second set of their mixed-up doubles game against Riko Ojima and Brian Wessel in the 2017 White Coconut Tennis Classic last Sunday at the Pacific Islands Club courts. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Junior players Colin Ramsey and Andy Kim took the first semis seat in the mixed-up doubles event in the 2017 White Coconut Tennis Classic after sweeping their games over the weekend at the Pacific Islands Club courts.
Ramsey and Kim were first paired against Flor Jones and fellow junior player J.C. Ferrer and prevailed in straight sets last Saturday, 6-0, 6-1. The fifth-ranked Ramsey and Kim then made it two in a row after another victory via sweep against the tandem of Tony Kim and Danny Lee, 6-3, 6-3. Tony and Lee set a quarterfinal duel against Ramsey and Kim after eliminating David Kwon and Sam Ryu, 6-1, 6-3.

With its 2-0 record, Ramsey and Kim arranged a game against Riko Ojima and Brian Wessel for one of the two semis slots at the lower half of the 32-team draw. Ramsey and Kim’s streak (sets won) then ended when the third-seeded Ojima and Wessel took the opening set, 6-2. In the second set, the opposing teams battled back and forth with Ramsey and Kim pulling off a 6-4 victory. The eventual first semifinalists then completed the come-from-behind win after a 10-6 triumph in the super-tiebreaker third set. Ojima and Wessel before bowing to Ramsey and Kim drew a bye in the opening round and topped Boome Park and Ken Xue, 6-0, 6-1, to advance to the quarterfinals of the lower half of the bracket.

The pairs of Seo Hee Lee and Jeff Race and Bobby Cruz and Richard Steele are also at the bottom half of the draw and the winner of their game this Saturday will challenge Ramsey and Kim in the semifinals.

Cruz and Steele are seeded second in the event and forged a quarterfinal showdown against Seo Hee and Race after dominating Chelsea Kang and Peter Loken, 6-1, 6-0. Race and Seo, on the other hand, notched two wins to make it to the next round. They first downed Andrew Chung and Malika Miyawaki, 6-1, 7-6, and then ousted Allan Lee and Eugene Park, 6-3, 6-4.

At the upper half of the draw, three seeded pairs moved into the Round of 8. The top-ranked duo of Daniel Kang and Don Min Lee defeated Jiwoon Kwon and Luther Lizama, 6-2, 6-1, to march into the quarterfinals. Kwon and Lizama earlier beat Nicky Nichols and Nason Wessel, 6-3, 6-3, before losing to Kang and Dong Min, who will face in the quarterfinals the seventh-ranked duo of Steven Goodwin and Seung Won Lee.

Seung Won and Goodwin barged into the Round of 8 after outlasting Anika Camacho and Tisha Ferrer, 4-6, 6-4, 10-8, and downing Andy Cho and Ami Tsukagoshi, 6-0, 6-1. Cho and Tsukagosji set up a second round tiff against Goodwin and Seung Won Lee after sweeping Maria Gregoire and Danny Jeong, 6-4, 6-2.

Hyunmin Cho and Isabel Heras, who are seeded sixth in the field, also needed only two sets to dispatch their opponents. They first posted a 6-1, 7-5 triumph over Ken Song and Jun Wang and then eased past Brandon Lee and Moris Villanueva, 6-4, 6-0, to schedule a quarterfinals match against the unranked pair of Jaeyun Jung and Tania Tan.

Tan and Jung got a Round of 8 ticket after easing past Grace Choi and La Hunn Lam, 6-3, 6-1, and pulling off a 6-4, 1-6, 10-7 upset against No. 4 Vincent Tudela and Anthony Gregoire.