11 survive mixed up doubles’ first round

Eleven pairs won their opening games in the mixed up doubles event in the 2012 White Coconut Tennis Classic.

The list include the tandems of Mark Blackburn-Daniel Lim, Rafael Jones-Catherine Atalig, Abe Malai-Ami Tsukagoshi, Mei Demapan-Sally Hwang, Moris Villanueva-Clayton Izuka, Alina Ishikawa-Liza Atalig, Mikayla Lopez-A.J. Hudkins, Kinumi Taniguchi-Malika Miyawaki, Amami Sakano-Joshua Abragan, Steve Nutting-Alex Park, and George Poquiz-Tony Atalig.

The team of Poquiz and Atalig was one of the three pairs who played extended games in the first round mixed up doubles last Saturday at the American Memorial Park tennis courts. They won the opening set, 6-2, but failed to wrap up the game early when Mihoko Tuttle and Gillian Villagomez recovered in the second set with a 7-5 win. Poquiz and Atalig then regrouped in the deciding set and prevailed, 6-4, to advance to the Round of 32 against the second-ranked pair of Carl Dela Cruz and Emily Jones, who drew a bye in the lower half of the 64-player draw.

Also notching three-set wins in the first round were Blackburn and Lim and Villanueva and Izuka of the top half of the draw. Blackburn and Lim were paired against Christian Miller and Asia Raulerson and pulled off a 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 triumph to move into the Round of 32 versus top seeds Jeff Race and Michael Ren. Villanueva and Izuka outclassed Tommy Choi and Rob Schorr, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6, to barge into the second round against the duo of Isabel Heras and Nakajima.

Meanwhile, the eight other opening round matches last Saturday were decided after only two sets. In the upper half of the draw, Malai and Tsukagoshi swept Primo Po and Haruya eda, 6-4, 7-6, to arrange a second round duel against Jake Lee and Cole Chambers, while Rafael Jones and Catherine Atalig had a free pass to the next round and were set to face Jodel Fernandez and Peter Deng last Sunday after a win via walkover against Theecel Minor and Satoshi Ohtsu. Demapan and Hwang completed the Round of 32 cast in the top bracket and were slated to duel Daniel Park and Steven Goodwin after beating Gary Ramsey and Aditya Rai, 6-4, 7-5.

In the lower bracket, Ishikawa and Liza Atalig notched a Round of 32 seat after shutting out Angelo Jones and Ruth Park, 6-0, 6-0. A.J. Hudkins and Lopez also had an easy first round assignment, cruising past Negahr Rastguiy and Eugene Park, 6-1, 6-3. Ishikawa and Liza Atalig and A.J. Hudkins and Lopez were scheduled to collide against Chris Cajigan and Mimi Sakano and Sakura Imaya and R.J. Aquino, respectively, last Sunday.

Rounding out the Round of 32 cast in the lower half of the draw were Amami Sakano and Abragan and Steve Nutting and Alex Park, who topped Nathan Nutting and Anna Calvert, 6-1, 6-2, and Lucas Nutting and Logan Mister, 6-1, 6-0, respectively. Steve Nutting and Alex Park’s next foes were Colim Ramsey and Ken Song, while Abragan and Amami Sakano were set to challenge Seiya Eda and Tania Tan last Sunday. Sunday’s games were unavailable at press time and will be released by Friday before Week 2 of the Tennis Classic is played this weekend.