Lopez defends girls U18 title

Lopez, winner of the 2012 NMASA/TSL Foundation Female Student Athlete of the Year award, bagged the girls U18 tiara for the second straight time after prevailing against Alina Ishikawa, Negahr Rastguiy, and Carol Lee. The Marianas High School student, who defeated Rastguiy, Ishikawa, and Melody Johnson in last year’s round-robin tournament, secured the championship this year after edging Lee, 8-5, last Monday at the American Memorial Park tennis courts.

Lee faced Lopez in the title-deciding afternoon match after shutting out Ishikawa in a morning game. Lee was undefeated before she challenged Lopez, as the former rallied past Rastguiy, 8-5, in the opening week of the annual tournament. Rastguiy ended up in third place after beating Ishikawa, 8-2.

In other title game results, second-ranked Tania Tan pulled off an upset over the top-seeded Julia Ishikawa, 8-6. Tan made it to the pro-set finals after outclassing Malika Miyawaki in the semifinals, 8-2, while Ishikawa also cruised past Ami Tsukagoshi in the other Final Four pairing, 8-1. Tsukagoshi joined Tan and Ishikawa in the Top 3 after defeating Miyawaki in the consolation game, 8-2.

In the girls U10 singles finale, Erika Tuttle also stunned her seeded opponent, the second-ranked Maria Gregoire, 6-3.

Earlier in the semifinals, Tuttle eliminated top-ranked Hana Ojima in a back-and-forth game, 7-6 (5) to barge into the title game. The eventual champion marched into the semifinals after ousting Tiara Imai in the upper bracket quarterfinals, 6-2, while Ojima outclassed Hye Jin Elliott, 6-1.
In the lower bracket, Gregoire lived up to expectations when she topped Marielle Lopez, 6-2, and Maaya Sato, 6-1, to move one step closer from clinching the championship.

In the girls U10 singles, Conatsu won her sibling rivalry with younger sister Coume. Conatsu was unbeaten in four games in the round-robin tournament, securing the championship over the weekend after winning over Coume, 8-3, and Jireh Warren, 8-5.

Coume settled for the runner-up honors with her 3-1 record, while Warren rounded out the Top 3 after finishing the event with a 2-2 slate. RIko Ojima and Susan Sablan completed the field.
Meanwhile, results in the mixed-up doubles will be reported in Saipan Tribune’s Thursday edition.