Thea stuns Rafael in U18 finals

 Thea Minor stood out in the male-dominated U18 field in the 3rd Annual Tan Holdings Tennis Classic after outlasting Rafael Jones in the championship match yesterday at the American Memorial Park tennis courts.

Minor needed three sets to win against Jones for the first time after losing in their first two outings this year. The 15-year-old Minor bowed to Jones in the U18 singles finals of the DFS tournament in May and then suffered another defeat to her male counterpart just last week in the open singles division of the Tan Holdings Classic.

A 6-4 victory in the opening set boosted Minor’s chances of ending her losing skid to Jones, who then foiled the former’s bid for a sweep with a 2-6 win in the rain-delayed second set.

Then in the deciding set, Minor made adjustments to recover and pull off an upset over the top-seeded Jones, as the Saipan Southern High School student nailed a 6-2 triumph.

“After the second set, I decided I have to counter his moves on the net. So every time he hits shots near the net, I either returned the ball straight to him or made passing shots. I also concentrated on scoring on my serves,” Minor said in a telephone interview with Saipan Tribune.

Minor started her U18 singles title bid with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Rafael’s younger brother, Angelo, last Friday, also at AMP. Then last Saturday, Minor defeated lefty Amami Sakano in the semis, 6-2, 6-0, to face Rafael Jones in the finals. Sakano stunned second-seed Daniel Park, 6-3, 6-2, to advance to the semis of the lower half of the draw.

In the upper half of the draw, Rafael Jones survived Jake Lee in three sets, 6-2, 4-6, 10-6, to duel Primo Po in the semifinals. Po marched into the semis after downing Christian Miller, but later bowed to Jones in the semis, 0-6, 0-6.

Other juniors singles winner in the second and final week of the Tan Holdings Classic were Moris Villanueva, Michael Ren, Mikayla Lopez, Cole Chambers, and Tania Tan.

Villanueva ruled the boys U15 singles after beating rival Carl Dela Cruz, 6-4, 6-3. The eventual boys U15 champion made it to the finals after winning over Tommy Choi, 5-0 (default) and top seed Chris Cajgigan, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2). Dela Cruz took the second finals berth after defeating Aaron Lee, 6-1, 6-3, and Seiya Eda, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.

The girls U15 plum went to Mikayla Lopez, who swept Negahr Rastguiy in the finals, 6-0, 6-2. Lopez drew a bye in the first round and won over Emily Jones, 6-0, 6-2, to gain the finals seat in the upper half of the draw. In the lower half, Rastguiy also earned a draw and then beat Tammy Ackerman (walkover) to enter the finals.

Ren topped the nine-player boys U12 field, clinching the championship after sweeping Luther Lizama, 6-0, 6-4. Ren also won over Steve Goodwin, 6-0, 6-0, and Clayton Izuka, 6-2, 6-0. Lizama barged into the finals after thumping Vincent Tudela, 6-2, 6-2, and Alex Park.

Carol Lee also needed only two sets to claim the girls U12 title against Isabel Heras, 6-3, 6-3. Lee was seeded first in her field and defeated Antonia Reyes, 6-0, 6-0, to advance to the finals. Heras notched the other finals berth after prevailing over Ami Tsukagoshi, 6-0, 6-2, and Julia Ishikawa, 6-4, 6-3.

The unseeded Chambers lorded it over 11 other players in the boys U10 singles. He thwarted Ken Song in the first round, 9-7, stunned No. 4 seed Steven An, 8-3, and No. 1 pick Mondo Taniguchi, 8-3, and then crushed Joshua John Abragan in the finals, 8-3.

In the girls U10, Tan won over seven other entries. She first shut out Asia Raulerson, 8-0, and then took an 8-2 victory over Grace Choi in the semis. Tan completed her title win with an 8-2 triumph over Malika Miyawaki.

Besides the juniors singles, Week 2 of the Tan Holdings Classic also featured juniors and adults doubles contests. The complete results of Week 2 will be published in Saipan Tribune’s Tuesday edition.