Upsets in ITF Juniors finale

Upsets marked the finals of the 2015 IT&E Northern Marianas Junior Championships as Japan’s Yuki Naito and Rimpei Kawakami swept their favored foes yesterday at the Pacific Islands Club hard courts.

Japan’s Yuki Naito returns to compatriot Ayano Shimizu during their title game in the girls singles event of the 2015 IT&E Northern Marianas Junior Championships yesterday at the Pacific Islands Club hard courts.
(Roselyn B. Monroyo)

The unranked Naito took only two sets to clinch the girls singles championship crown against compatriot and No. 3 seed Ayano Shimizu, 6-3, 7-5, but both victories were hard earned ones. In fact, Naito had to fight back in the extended second set to close out the finale on Court 1 after about two hours.

The 14-year-old champion was down, 0-40, in the 12th game, but recovered as Shimizu hit some shots that went wide. The game then went to four deuces with the last one recorded as Shimizu’s return hit the net. Another Shimizu error—a strong return past the baseline—gave Naito the advantage. Naito served for the match point and Shimizu got it, but the latter’s second return off the former’s backhand from the left baseline slammed into the net, sealing the unranked player’s championship win.

“I was a bit lucky that my opponent made a lot of errors,” said Naito through interpreter and CNMI player Malika Miyawaki. “It was a very tough game and I just continued to be aggressive, trying to force her to commit mistakes.”

The Niigita native, who also came back from a 4-5 deficit after giving up two straight games to Shimizu, barged into the finals after notching a 6-2, 6-3 win over doubles partner Funa Kozaki in the upper bracket semifinals last Saturday. Shimizu also took the short route to the title tiff, sweeping the CNMI’s Mikayla Lopez in the other Finals Four pairing last Saturday, 6-1, 6-0.

Meanwhile, the seventh-ranked Kawakami was crowned champion first as he outclassed compatriot and the third-seeded Tomohiro Masabayashi, 6-1, 6-3, on Court 2.

The 14-year-old Kawakami sealed the victory with a powerful crosscourt return to the left backcourt, as he anticipated the move of Masabayashi, who approached the net (right service box side) after returning the former’s backhand slice.

“Though I beat him in two sets, it was not easy. Every game here was tough and I have to be prepared and not feel over confident,” the Tokyo native said after completing the nearly one hour and a half finale. “This is a good win for me because I may be able to compete in a higher level.”

Kawakami forced an all-Japan finale in the boys singles event after eliminating the fourth-ranked Shaheed Alam of Singapore in the lower bracket semifinals last Saturday, 6-1, 6-3. Masabayashi, on the other hand, ousted Kazuki Shimizu in the semis match at the bottom half of the draw, 6-4, 6-0.