Tudela, Hwang survive finale

Juncheol Hwang, left, and Vincent Tudela return to Robbie Schorr and Daniel Heo during their mixed-up doubles title game in the 2019 White Coconut Tennis Classic yesterday at the American Memorial Park courts. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Vincent Tudela and Juncheol Hwang outlasted Robbie Schorr and Daniel Heo in an extended finale to clinch the mixed-up doubles title in the 2019 White Coconut Tennis Classic yesterday afternoon at the American Memorial Park courts.

The No. 1 seed needed a super-tiebreaker third set to slip past Schorr and Heo in the championship game and rule the 29-team field. Tudela and Hwang drew first blood in the finals with a 6-3 triumph in the opening set, but failed to finish off their foes when Schorr and Heo took the win in the second in similar scores. Then in the deciding set, the opposing teams went and back forth before Tudela and Hwang got the crucial points to secure the tough 10-8 victory.

The eventual champions marched into the title match after sweeping their opponents over the weekend. Tudela and Hwang first downed No. 8 Jeff Race and Hoo Wang last Saturday, 7-5, 6-3, and then defeated No. 4 Jun Wang and Tania Tan last Sunday, 6-2, 7-5, to earn the finals berth at the top half of the draw.

At the bottom half, the third-seeded Schorr and Heo outclassed No. 6 Sam Ryu and Jaehoon Son, 6-1, 6-4, to advance to the semifinals. In the Final Four, Heo and Schorr were pitted against No. 2 Andrew Chung and Jimin Woo and took two sets to win the match, 6-3, 6-1, and set up a championship showdown versus Tudela and Hwang.

The mixed-up doubles winners’ super-tiebreaker third set victory was their only game that went the distance, as earlier in the first round, Tudela and Hwang dispatched Marivic Dunlop and Savita Sikkel, 6-1, 6-3. Heo and Schorr also recorded their three wins via sweeps before their streak was snapped by Tudela and Hwang.

Hwang notched his second straight mixed-up doubles crown, as last year he and Race defeated Ken Song and Isaac Heo in the finals, 7-5, 6-3. The mixed-up doubles title was also Hwang’s second in the same competition this season, as earlier yesterday morning he topped the boys U12 singles event.

Hwang eased past June Yu in the finale, 6-1, 6-1, completing a clean slate in the division. Hwang shut down Wataru Kadokura in their semis game, 6-0, 6-0, to move into the finals against Yu, who eliminated Takeru Jim in the other Final Four tiff, 6-4, 6-4. Jim rounded out the Top 3 in the boys U12 singles event following a thrilling 4-6, 6-2, 10-8 win over Kadokura yesterday.

Despite losing in the championship game in the boys U12 singles contest, Yu did not go home empty-handed after earning the boys U10 singles title. Yu defeated Lina Tsukagoshi in their finals showdown yesterday, 6-1. Tsukagoshi made it to the title game following a 6-2 victory over Yutaka Kadokura, while Yu topped June Lim in the other semis match, 6-4. Jun won the battle for third place against Kadokura, 6-3.