Anne, Si Woo triumph in THTC

Rising tennis stars Anne Lee and Si Woo Lee triumphed once again in the finals of their respective divisions of the TanHoldings Tennis Classic 2024 at the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan last Sunday.

Both Anne and Si Woo were champions in their respective divisions of the 2024 Crowne Plaza CNMI Junior Championship last April.

In this tourney, Anne mastered the girls 18 division as she was the top seed and made light work of her foes. In the finals against Irin Chung, Anne won the first set, 6-2, then laid waste to Chung in the second, 6-0.

As Anne had the bye, she jumped straight to the semis against Stella Choi and eliminated her after two swift sets as well, 6-2, 6-1.

Third place was Choi after she beat no. 2 seed Hannah Chae, 8-3.

As for No. 1 seed Si Woo, he dominated the boys 18 division and found himself against Nason Wessel in the finals.

Si Woo fell to Wessel in the first set, 2-6, and bounced back in the second, 6-2, to even it all up. Then in the tie-breaking third set, both boys put in their all and forced extra points. Si Woo eventually captured first place after a 10-7 advantage.

As Si Woo had the bye, he went straight to the semis against Anne and defeated her, 6-3, 6-1.

Anne, also playing in the boys field, then won third place after a walkover by No. 2 seed Simon Tang.

Anne, who’s been playing tennis since she was around 4-5 years old, said of her win, “I feel proud of myself for the win and thankful for my dad coaching me throughout the years.”

As for the conditions throughout the tournament that started last Friday, she said, “The tournament conditions were okay, had a little bit of rain, but resumed my game as soon as possible.”

The younger sister of NCAA tennis star Carol then said of her performance, “I felt confident about my performance in the tourney, but I still need to improve further more on my skills.”

Si Woo, for his part, said he’s proud of himself after adjusting following his first set loss.

“I very glad and proud of myself winning the boys 18 I think I was having trouble in the first set but I tried to play more consistently in the second set and it worked. I want to thank coach Jeff [Race], coach Ryan [Cho], Colin [Ramsey], Tomas [Abel], and my parents for supporting me always.”

Results of the other divisions will be posted in the next issues of Saipan Tribune.

Sponsors of the event are ASC Trust, Mobil, D&Q Distributors, Quality Distributors, Tan Siu Lin Foundation, Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan, National Park Service, AMS, iShop, Century Insurance, CTSI Logistics, TakeCare, and TBC.

The TanHoldings Tennis Classic 2024 had a year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic and made a return in 2021.