Former NMI top jr. player recalls game vs Kygrios

NMI’s former No. 1 junior tennis player Ji Hoon Heo once played Nick Kygrios of Australia in an ITF Junior tourney. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS)

Action in the U.S. Open is underway with Nick Kygrios of Australia pulling off the biggest upset in the men’s singles play following his 7-6 , 3-6, 6-3,  6-2 win over dethroned champion Daniil Medvedev of Russia yesterday in New York.

The celebrated Aussie is now in the quarterfinals and will be battling another Russian in Karen Khachanov for a spot in the Final Four. Kygrios, like a majority of tennis players in the world, used to compete in the ITF Juniors before joining the pro ranks and did you know that he once played against the NMI’s former top junior player, Ji Hoon Heo?

Kyrios and Heo crossed paths in the Air Pacific South Pacific Open Junior Championships held in Fiji in 2010 and they met in the doubles finals. Heo was with New Zealand’s Alex Hamilton and they swept Kyrgios and his Australian teammate Andrew Zedde in the championship game, 6-4, 6-4.

Ji Hoon Heo, front row right, now runs TESBROS, a startup company based in Tennessee and specializes in helping Tesla owners customize, protect, and maintain Tesla vehicles. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS)

“Hamilton and I played very well together and we were able to beat them in straight sets. It’s probably one of the best doubles we played. I remember it being super high-energy doubles. We were all pretty pumped up throughout the whole match. A lot of ‘come ons’ and ‘let’s go” throughout the match,” said Heo, who went on to suit up for Morehead State University in NCAA Division I after completing his junior career in the NMI.

The 31-year-old, who is now based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, also had a chance to challenge Great Britain’s No. 1 player Cameron Norrie in a junior competition. Norrie, who is originally from New Zealand, played in the U.S. Open, too and made it to the fourth round before losing to Russia’s Andrey Rublev.

“I don’t remember Cam’s match as much as Nick’s,  but I do remember hanging out with him and other NZ players. He is a very easy-to-get-along kind of guy,” said Heo, who teamed up with NZ’s Artem Vassiliev in beating Norrie and Devon Sgubin in the first round of the  Auckland 18U ITF Summer Championships in 2010.

Meanwhile, Heo said he is done playing competitive tennis, but still plays recreationally.

“I haven’t competed in a long time. I had wrist surgery after my college career and took a break and since then, I’ve just been playing every now and then. It’s also a bit harder to play now that I have a 1-year-old daughter,” the Marianas High School student graduate said.

Besides his family, Heo is also busy with work, as he runs and founded a startup company called TESBROS that specializes in helping Tesla owners customize, protect, and maintain their Tesla vehicles.

Heo is grateful to the sport of tennis and his coaches and teammates for helping him compete in high-level tournaments and finish school. He is also pleased that despite the pandemic, NMI’s junior tennis program is still up and running.

NMI players are heading to Fiji this month for the Pacific Oceania Junior Championships, returning to the regional event for the first time since 2019 when tournaments were canceled due to the pandemic. Heo played in the same competition on many occasions and wished NMI players participating in the POJC good luck.

“Play your heart out. You’re just as good as everyone else so play your heart out. Good luck to everyone!”