Coconut Classic finals today at AMP courts

Champions will be crowned today as the 2006 Coconut Classic Tennis Tournament caps its three-day invasion of the American Memorial Park tennis courts.

Leading the cast of finalists are Ralph Buenaventura and Ji Hoon Heo, who will meet for all the marbles in the boys’ 18-and-under singles.

Buenaventura was first to secure a finals slot after beating Keith Gabaldon, 8-6, in the semifinals. Buena-ventura got a bye in the opening round, while Gabaldon defeated Henry lee, 8-0, to head to the semis.

For his part, Heo faced Nicolas Son and was able to control the bout for an 8-3 victory. Son earned the right to face Heo with a walkover win over Henry Yang.

The boys’ 14-and-under singles finals is also set as Benjie Decena of Tinian will battle Dominic von Siebenthal.

Decena earned his ticket with an 8-3 semis win over Joe Motto Jr., who defeated Hunter Thorpe, 8-1, to move to the final four. von Siebenthal defeated Woo Suk Chang, 8-6. Chang faced von Siebenthal after edging Bradley Brostrom, 8-6.

Veterans Ed Johnson and Sonny Decena will face off in the men’s singles finals after Johnson defeated Ganover Rettin and Decena stopped Gary Ramsey.

Rettin had earlier defeated Paul Baron, 8-0, while Ramsey slipped past Joe Motto Sr., 8-6, in the opening round.

Meanwhile, young gun Thea Minor crossed over to the boys’ corner and is in the finals of the 10-and-under singles competition after scoring a 6-4 victory over Rafael Jones. Minor meets Christian Miller, who posted a 6-1 win over Angelo Jones.

Others who competed in the age group include Jake Lee, Ryan Baron, Clay McCullough-Stearns, Brian Mailman, Andrew Johnson, Quintin Ramset, Crosby Schultz, Collin Ramsey, Michael Grandinetti, R.J. Knecht, and Dylan Ackerman.

Melody Johnson also makes a return to the finals after beating Gabrielle Race, 6-1, in the girls’ 10-and-under. Facing Johnson will be Ilia Corella, who had her way against Michaela Grandinetti, 6-3.

Action in the girls’ 14-and-under finals will feature Vivian Lee and Audrey Motto after Lee posted an 8-0 win over Shane Jones and Motto recorded an 8-0 win over Cleo von Siebenthal. von Siebenthal had earlier edged Jessica Soll, 9-7, to reach the semis.

Mayuko Arriola continues to dominate as she also had an 8-0 win over E.J. Lee in the women’s singles, while Karen Ramsey defeated Belle Grandinetti. The two will meet for the title to day as well. Lee secured third place with a 9-7 win over Grandinetti.

The tournament also includes the mixed up doubles, and as of press time, only one team had secured a slot in the semifinals.

The one-two punch of Peter Loyola and Soll posted an 8-4 victory over Miller and Lila Mailman in the quarterfinals. The two await a challenger and will face either Joy Minor and Joe Motto Jr. or Sonny Decena and Thea Minor.

One of the other two semis slots will be filled by Vivian Lee and Benjie Decena or Audrey Motto and Ryan Baron. The remaining slot will be taken by either Arriola and Brostrom or Son and Melody Johnson.

The tournament is being organized by the Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Association.