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Dognidon upends Benitez in 4.0 start
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Posted on Oct 21 2004
Noel Dognidon held off a late rally by Hector Benitez to win his first round match in the men’s 4.0 division of the 2004 Shell-Telesource Open Wednesday night at the American Memorial Park tennis courts.
Dognidon barely beat Benitez in the first set and then was locked in a tight battle in the second before winning the match—in a tiebreak no less—6-4, 7-6 (8-6).
Art Lopez, meanwhile, didn’t even have to lift his racquet to win his opening match opposite Jaime Hagos. Hagos failed to show up for their scheduled match and Lopez was awarded the walkover win.
While two matches were concluded in men’s 4.0, six matches were decided in men’s 3.0 Wednesday evening. Michael Roberts advanced to the next round after topping Roy Banados 6-1, 6-3.
Also safely into the next round is Nigel Cacdac after he beat Hum Roka 6-2, 6-3. Elemen Solomon didn’t get off the hook that easily, needing three sets before eliminating Matti Buenaventura.
Kanani Ashraf, meanwhile, scored the night’s biggest shocker after the 11-year-old posted a 6-4, 6-3 win over Massimo Flouti. After the match, Flouti said he felt embarrassed after losing to a girl.
Flouti shouldn’t be, however, since Ashraf is one of the CNMI’s up-and-coming netters and recently got an invite to participate in the International Tennis Federation Girls 14-and-under New Zealand Tennis Tour that would be held in Auckland this December
Also Wednesday, Romy Espeleta and Ruben Leynes also scored walkover wins in men’s 3.0.
For more information about the 2004 Shell-Telesource Open, please call tournament directors Elmer Guzman at 483-2004 or Alex Martin at 322-1130.
