Tudela, Kim fight back

Vincent Tudela and Tony Kim redeemed themselves in the boys U14 doubles event of the 6th Tan Holdings Tennis Classic after falling short in their bids in the singles competition.

Tudela and Kim, who finished second and third behind boys U14 singles champion Robbie Schorr, topped the round-robin doubles event after sweeping their two games over the weekend at the Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan tennis courts.

Vincent Tudela, seen here serving to Clayton Izuka during their boys U14 singles semis match, teamed up with Tony Kim in ruling the boys U14 doubles event of the 6th Tan Holdings Tennis Classic last Sunday at the Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan tennis courts. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

The pair first defeated Schorr and Steven Goodwin last Friday, 6-4, 6-3, and then had another straight set win over A.J. Hudkins and Ken Song last Sunday, 6-1, 6-0, to secure the doubles championship. Schorr, who downed Tudela in the singles finale, 6-0, 6-4, this time settled for runner-up honors with Goodwin as they earlier dominated Hudkins and Song, 6-2, 6-1.

Meanwhile, four other pairs were crowned champions in the opening week of the two-weekend tournament.

In the boys U18, Michael Ren and Luther Lizama also prevailed in the round-robin competition.

The winning pair started its title bid in the division with a 6-0, 6-3 triumph over Haruya Eda and Woo Sun Cho last Friday. Ren and Lizama then clinched the championship last Sunday, following a 6-3, 6-3 victory against Steven Lee and Colin Ramsey. Ramsey and Lee ended up at second place, as they downed Eda and Cho, too last Saturday, 6-2, 6-4.

In the boys U12, Aditya Rai and Sean Lee took the division championship following a 6-4, 7-5 win over Eugene Park and Allan Lee.

The two pairs battled for the championship after beating similar foes. Rai and Sean Lee first dueled Brian Kim and Jeffrey Seo last Friday and notched a 6-1, 6-4 win to boost their title bid. Park and Allen Lee then met Kim and Seo last Saturday and also needed only two sets to get the win, 6-4, 6-2.

In the girls divisions, Tania Tan and Julia Ishikawa and Tiara Imai and Erika Tuttle were named champions in the U14 and U12 age groups, respectively.

Tan and Ishikawa gained the division crown after a 6-0 7-6 (9-7) triumph over Mimi Sakano and Ami Tsukagoshi last Sunday. The eventual champions also downed Malika Miyawaki and Grace Choi last Friday, 6-1, 6-3, for an unbeaten record in the doubles contest. Tsukagoshi and Sakano topped Choi and Miyawaki, too, 6-1, 6-3, to take the runner-up honors.

In the U12 age group, Tuttle and Imai eked out a 6-4, 6-4 win over Maria Gregoire and Ellie Epley last Sunday at the Hyatt Regency Saipan Court 1 to bag the division crown. Before their straight set wins over Epley and Gregoire, Tuttle and Imai also made short work of Michelle Ryu and Hana Ojima last Saturday, 6-2, 6-1.

Ojima and Ryu were winless in the division as they also lost to eventual runners-up Gregoire and Epley, who cruised to a 6-1, 6-4 victory in the opener last Friday.