Thea, Christian roll in boys U18 doubles

 Top seed Thea Minor and Christian Miller are playing beautiful music together, so far winning two matches in the boys 18-and-under doubles of the 2012 CNMI Junior Tennis Championships.

The two-weekend tournament, which is the last local event that awards ranking points to junior players, got rolling over the weekend at the American Memorial Park and Pacific Islands Club tennis courts.

Minor and Miller started the tournament in dominating fashion, beating Seiya Eda and Amami Sakano in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0.

The No. 1 pair was supposed to get stiffer competition against the tandem of Carl Dela Cruz and Cris Cajigan, but only got anxious moments in the opening set.

With their opponents working double time, Minor and Miller were challenged but eventually won the first set, 7-5.

Tuckered out from overexerting themselves in the first set, Dela Cruz and Cajigan seemingly waved the white flag of surrender in losing the second set, 6-0.

Dela Cruz and Cajigan earlier got more than they bargained for during their opening round assignment against Dylan Ackerman and Colin Ramsey.

The two narrowly escaped the opening set, 6-4, as their opponents played with gusto. Ackerman and Ramsey continued to play splendidly in the second set and had their moments before Dela Cruz and Cajigan leveled up and took the match with a hard-earned 6-3 win in the second set.

In other results, Rafael Jones and Jake Lee made their intentions known with a clinical 6-1, 6-0 victory over Ackerman and Ramsey.

Eda and Sakano also got the better of Ackerman and Ramsey, 8-5, 6-1, in the weekend’s final match in the age group.

In the boys 13-and-under, Michael Jones and Tony Atalig barged into the winner’s circle with 6-1, 6-1 thumping of Rintaro Miyawaki and Kevin Kim.

The tandems of Steven Goodwin and Michael Ren and Haruyo Eda and Vincent Tudela, meanwhile, didn’t have to break a sweat following walkover wins over Jeremy Seo and Eugene Park.

Jones and Atalig also scored a victory over the absent Seo and Park. Goodwin and Ren then scored another win when they beat Miyawaki and Kim, 6-0, 6-0.

The pairings of Emily Jones and Neghar Rastguiy, Liza and Carol Atalig, Tania Tan and Mini Sakano, and Ami Tsukagoshi and Malika Miyawaki, meanwhile, advanced to the semis of the girls 13-and-under doubles.

Jones and Ratguiy moved to the semifinals after a quick 6-1, 6-0 victory over Grace Choi and Hana Nelson. The two Ataligs, meanwhile, scraped a 6-2, 6-3 win over Jiren Warren and Asia Raulerson to reach the Final Four.

Tan and Sakano made it to the semis with a 6-2, 6-1 triumph against Coume Kaga and R. Ojima.

Tan and Sakano later defeated Tsukagoshi and Malika Miyawaki in an early semis duel, 6-2, 6-1, to book a place in the finals.

After the 2012 CNMI Junior Tennis Championships the organizing Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Association will compile all rankings to determine the CNMI’s representatives to the 2012 North Pacific Qualifying Tournament in Guam in June.

The Top 5 players in the ranking list in the U15 and U12 age groups and Top 4 in the U18 will earn slots on the team.