TOURNAMENTS
Hawaii Tennis Juniors Look to Build on Success
By Ann Miller
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jun 13, 2011
Hawaii juniors made amazing progress on the Nike Junior Tennis Tour a year ago. All four national qualifiers finished among the Top 15 in Florida, with Hilo's Zandrix Acob becoming the first from here to capture a title. Acob is now living and training in Florida with the U.S. Tennis Association.
A new Hawaii crew is heading to Florida this fall to try to follow up. They qualified over the weekend in the rain-delayed USTA-Nike Summer Junior Section Championships at Patsy T. Mink CORP Tennis Complex.
Yesterday's girls and boys winners of the two youngest age divisions (12 and 14) earned invitations to nationals and cross-country flights. If they win in Florida, they advance to the Nike Junior International Masters. That championship is made up of winners from 30 countries.
Kona's Sarah Tsukamoto, whose sister Sayo won the 2010 state high school championship, captured Girls 12s by defeating Tristen Bryant-Otake, 6-1, 6-3. Tsukamoto got to her final by beating top-seeded Taylor Lau - for the first time - in a three-set semifinal. Tsukamoto attributed the upset to patience and promises the same for Florida, along with "moving my feet."
Mililani's Ashley Ishimura stopped Emily Soares, 6-0, 6-1, to win Girls 14s. Ishimura, who will be a freshman at Punahou in the fall, qualified for Nike nationals two years ago.
"I was really looking forward to it. This is my last year," said Ishimura, who did not lose more than three games in any match. "It's a whole different level there, a lot higher. ... The first time I didn't do well. Everyone was bigger, stronger, a whole lot better. Now that I know how to play, maybe I'll have a better tournament."
Fifth-seeded Phuc Huynh completed his charge to a title in Boys 12s when top-seeded Sage Leaman had to retire with a foot injury. Huynh led 4-1 in the first set when the match was called. Second-seeded Kawika Lam upset top-seeded Gregory Zukeran, 6-3, 6-1, in Boys 14s.
Both are making their first Nike national appearance. Huynh, about to enter sixth grade at Washington Middle, was away during last year's qualifier and has been thinking about this since. It is a prospect Lam has been pondering for the last month, which made him nervous. He overcame that with patience Sunday and hopes to overcome it by "focusing on fun" in Florida.
Champions in the 16 and 18 divisions are too old for the Nike tour, but claimed sectional titles.
Mililani's Alyssa Tobita won Girls 16s, 7-6 (12-10), 6-4, over top-seeded Katie Kim. Tobita finished sixth at Nike Nationals last year and won the state high school title last month.
She edged Waiakea's Sarah Dvorak in an all-freshmen high school final. Yesterday, Dvorak won Girls 18s, 6-2, 7-5 over Bobbi Oshiro. The sectional championship closed a remarkable month of tennis for Dvorak. At last week's U.S. Open local qualifier, she was within three points of heading to New York to play in the U.S. Open mixed doubles qualifier with Anton Samuilau.
Her focus over the last month has been more mental than physical. "I've been trying to work on a game plan, thinking more," Dvorak said. "Instead of just whacking the ball, actually having a strategy."
Zander Kim is the Boys 16 champion. The top seed did not lose a set at sectionals, defeating Daisuke Nakayama, 6-4, 6-1, in Sunday's final.
Chas Okamoto followed his state high school championship with a sectional title, defeating Brandon Lee in Boys 18s. Okamoto, a Kapaa graduate, is headed to the University of Hawaii in the fall. Lee, seeded fifth, upset second-seeded Kento Tanaka-Tamaki in quarterfinals to prevent a repeat of the high school final.
