Singles action in DFS tennis begins

Action in the singles event began yesterday in the 27th Annual Duty Free Shop-Micronesian Tennis Tournament at the Pacific Islands Club and American Memorial Park courts.

The longest-running tennis tournament, which will is a three-day and two-weekend meet, will have singles competitions in the boys’ and girls’ division in the following age groups: 9-and-under; 13-and-under; and 18-and-under. The doubles events are divided into the open; men’s 4.0, 3.0, 40-and-up; women’s; mixed open/4.0; and 3.0/2.0.

Boys’ and girls’ 18-and-under top seeds Russell Buenaventura and Mayuko Arriola lead the cast of top junior netters in the same division. Buenaventura and Arriola earned the top seeding after garnering the most points in six events organized last year by the Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Federation.

The well-traveled Ji Hoon Heo and Thea Minor are out to challenge Buenaventura and Arriola for the title. Heo and Minor were off island for the most part of 2007 by competing in International Tennis Federation-sponsored events.

James Camacho, Woo Suk Chang, Andy Nutting Joseph Jang, and Calvin Yang in the boys’ division and Jodel Fernandez, Dina Jones, and Kisses Aquino in the girls’ class are not to be taken lightly as they can also pull off some surprises. R.J. Aquino, Nathan Nutting, and Sung Hoon Ham, Thea’s older sister Theecel, and Jennifer Uy are the other players in the boys’ and girls’ divisions.

Boys’ 13-and-under top seed Christian Miller will be in for a tough time as he has to contend with 17 other players to maintain his hold of the title. Out to foil Miller’s bid are Jake Lee, Rafael Jones, Lucas Nutting, Clay McCullough-Stearns, Daniel Camacho, and Angelo Jones.

Other players in the division are Ji Hoon Choi, Chris Park, A.J. Jones, Joel Jang, Roy Lee, Kevin Yang, Dylan Ackerman, Quintin Ramsey, Bill Song, Sky Izuka, and Aaron Lee.

It will be an open race for the girls’ 13-and-under division crown after perennial winner Theecel Minor was elevated to the 18-and-under class.

Gunning for the crown are second seed Amy Arenovski, third-ranked Neghar Rastguiy, No. 4 Ilia Corella, No. 5 Jeanne Bracken, No. 9 Adele Hudkins, and unranked players Mikayla Lopez, and Kris Obaldo.

Chris Cajigan will try to strengthen his hold of the boys’ 9-and-under crown in his final year in the division.

Second seed Colin Ramsey, No. 3 Raj Ramnani, fifth ranked Michael Jones, No. 9 Evzen Pabellon, and 10th ranked Carl Dela Cruz are raring to snatch the crown from Cajigan.

Other players in the division are Steven Goodwin, Morris Villanueva, Cole Chambers, Michael Ren, Jordan Butcher, Jayson Gamboa, and Luther Lizama.

Only Tammy Ackerman and Emily Jones signed up in the girls’ 9-and-under division.