9 gain singles finals berths

Daniel Kang serves during his and Ryan Cho’s mixed-up doubles game against Asia Raulerson and Moris Villanueva in the 2016 White Coconut Tennis Classic last Saturday at the Pacific Islands Club courts. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Nine players earned finals tickets in the singles events in the 2016 White Coconut Tennis Classic after last Saturday’s matches at the Pacific Islands Club court.

Daniel Kang led the finalists list as he dominated Anthony Gregoire in the semifinals, 6-0, 6-1, to arrange a title duel against Richard Steele in the boys U12 singles. Steele dethroned 2015 champion Rintaro Miyawaki after posting a 6-3, 6-2 victory in the other Final Four pairing.

Ji Min Woo, Seung Jin Paik, Robbie Schorr, Asia Raulerson, Coume Kaga, Tania Tan, and Isabel Heras were the other singles players who advanced to the finals of their respective divisions.

Woo and Paik, who faced off in the Tan Holdings Tennis Classic’s U12 singles finale late last year, will have a rematch this time for the boys U14 division. Woo made it to the finals following a 6-3, 6-3 semis win over Sean Lee, while Paik also took only two sets to eliminate Allan Lee, 6-3, 6-0, in the other Final Four pairing.

In the boys U16 singles, Schorr, who just moved up to the higher age group this year, notched the first finals berth in the division after stunning the second-ranked Colin Ramsey, 6-3, 6-4. Schorr will face in the finals the winner between the top-seeded Moris Villanueva and Michael Ren, who squared off in the semifinals of the upper half of the draw yesterday and results of their match were unavailable at press time.

In the girls division, U16 age group, it will be Isabel Heras and Tania Tan for the second straight time. Tan battled through flu and cruised past Conatsu Kaga, 6-0, 6-1, to earn another crack at Heras, who defeated the former in the Tan Holdings finale in November. A 6-3, 6-2 victory against Malika Miyawaki in the other semis game allowed Heras to challenge Tan anew.

In the U14 age group, Asia Raulerson topped Maria Gregoire, 6-1, 6-2, to set a finals date opposite Coume Kaga, who labored for three sets before ousting Erika Tuttle in their semis showdown. Coume won the opening set, 6-2, but Tuttle came back with a 6-2 triumph in the second set. In the super tiebreaker third set, Coume and Tuttle went neck-and-neck in the early part of the game before the former recorded a 10-7 win.

Coume and Raulerson’s title match will be played today, along with the remaining championship games in the other singles event and the mixed-up doubles.