Top seeds advance to semis

Jeff Race and Michael Son avoided the upset axe in the men’s open draw of the 22nd Annual DFS Micronesian Tennis Championships held at the Pacific Islands Club tennis courts since last Friday.

Race struggled in his second round match against former youth campaigner Tim Quan but advanced after winning 6-4, 6-3. Son, meanwhile, also walked the tightrope before overwhelming boys 18-and-under champion Jung Mun Chung, 6-2, 7-5.

Race will face tourney surprise Gustavo Neri in the semifinals. Neri upset fourth seeded Daniel Son, 6-1, 6-2, in the second round. The elder Son, meanwhile, will play Felipe Quiroz in the third round. Quiroz beat youngster Jo Hoon Heo 6-3, 6-2 in the first round and won by default against third seed Todd Montgomery in the second round.

Aside from Daniel Son getting unceremoniously booted out in the second round and the near misses experienced by Race and Michael Son, the men’s open also saw University of Hawaii tennis varsity player Kana Aikawa getting the broom from Chung in the first round, 6-1, 6-0.

In the men’s 4.0, Richard Asuncion will meet Elmer Guzman in the finals. Both players took separate routes to the championship round. Asuncion used his experience in topping giant Richard “Doc” Brostrom in straight sets, 6-3, 6-0, while Guzman employed all his tricks to overcome Tony Santos, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5).

Michael Roberts, for his part, is in the championship round of the men’s 3.0 and is awaiting the victor of the semifinals duel between Hector Benitez and Sonny Decena. Roberts advanced to the finals after outplaying teenager Russel Buenaventura, 6-4, 6-2.

In the women’s 3.0, Kanani Ashraf advanced to the second round after getting the better of Ligaya Paculanang, 6-1, 6-0. Others players on to the round of eight are Shinobu Furrh, Audrey Motto, Vivian Lee and top seed Mayuko Arriola.

In so far the only women’s 3.0 match of the weekend, Cameron Mosley defeated Heidi Yelin, 6-0, 7-6.

In the junior doubles, the pair of Dominic Von Siebenthal and Joe Motto Jr. will meet the duo of Dylan Thorpe and Miguel Brostrom in the boys 12-and-under doubles finals.

Von Siebenthal and Motto Jr. got into the championship round after outdueling Bradley Brostrom and Keenan Krone, 6-1, 6-4. Thorpe and Miguel Brostrom, for their part, vanquished Benjie Decena and Cody Race, 6-3, 6-0, also to advance.

In the girls 12-and-under doubles, Vivian Lee and Lila Mailman beat Jessica Soll and Cleo Von Siebenthal, 6-0, 6-0, to get a berth in the finals. Their opponents will be Kanani Ashraf and Dinalet Jones, who defeated Audrey Motto and Cameron Mosley, 6-0, 6-3.