Men’s singles semis cast complete

Sam Ryu, left, and Sean Lee return to their respective opponents in the mixed-up doubles event of the 2021 White Coconut Tennis Classic yesterday at the American Memorial Park tennis courts. Ryu and Lee are also entered in the men’s singles event and they both made it to the semifinal round. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

The four semis seats in the men’s singles event in the 2021 White Coconut Tennis Classic were taken yesterday with Ji Min Woo, Sam Ryu, Colin Ramsey, and Sean Lee prevailing in their respective matches at the American Memorial Park and Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan tennis courts.

No. 1 seed Woo defeated Andy Kim, 6-1, 6-1, to advance to the semis against Ryu, who eliminated Jun Wang, 6-1, 6-2. Ramsey also swept David Kwon, 6-4, 6-2, to reach the Final Four and set a semis duel with the No. 2 seed Lee, who ousted Vincent Tudela, 6-3, 6-3. The semis and final matches will be played this weekend.

In other results, the boys U12 singles is also down to the Final Four with Nason Wessel, Si Woo Lee, Ki Won Lee, and Yutaka Kadokura staying in contention for the division crown. The defending champion Wessel moved one step away from a return trip to the finals after beating Ian Chae last Saturday, 6-0, 6-1. Wessel will take on Si Woo, who bagged a semis berth at the upper half of the draw after nosing out Henry Yeom, 6-1, 6-3. At the lower half of the draw, Ki Won won over Landon Pudney, 6-2, 6-4, to advance in the semis against Kadokura, who also eased past Ji Hun Park, 6-3, 6-2.

In the women’s singles, Elizabeth Culp and Grace Choi defeated Jeane Bracken, 6-3, 6-1, and Yuko Kumada, 8-5, respectively, to join Top 2 seeds Serin Chung and Hye Jin Elliot in the semifinals.

Irin Chung hits the ball from the baseline during her and Daniel Kang’s game against Edwin Simbulan and Cody Shimizu in the mixed-up doubles event yesterday at the American Memorial Park tennis courts. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

In the men’s over 40 singles results last Sunday, No. 1 seed Peter Loken, No. 2 Tomas Abel, No. 3 Dong Min Lee, and the unranked Eric Abragan reached the Final Four after downing their respective opponents. Loken hammered Paul Jang, 6-0, 6-0; Lee swept Gary Ramsey, 6-4, 6-1; Abragan stunned Edwin Simbulan, 6-4, 6-2; and Abel outclassed Bishop Ryan Jimenez, 6-1, 6-2.

Meanwhile, the other singles events in the Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Association’s first tournament of the season have a round-robin format with the winners to be decided next weekend.

In the boys U16 singles, David Kwon and Dev Bachani won their first two matches with the former topping Cody Shimizu, 6-1, 6-2, and Min Seong Kim, 6-1, 6-0. Bachani also won over Kim, 6-0, 6-4, and then defeated Sam Culp, 6-1, 7-5.

In the girls U14 singles, Hoo Wang prevailed over Anna Kwon, 6-1, 7-6 (3), while Irin Chung eked out a 7-6 (5), 3-6, 10-13 victory against Savita Sikkel. In the boys U14 singles, Simon Tang notched a pair of wins last weekend after sweeping Takeru Jim, 6-1, 6-2, and shutting down Henry Choi, 6-0, 6-0. Wataru Kadokura also won over Jim, 6-0, 6-0, while June Yu dominated Choi, 6-0, 6-2.