Coconut Classic champions crowned

With weather cooperating over the past three days, the 2005 Coconut Classic Tennis Tournament came to a close as scheduled yesterday at the American Memorial Park.

Leading the parade of champions were Mayuko Arriola and Ralph Buenaventura. Arriola took top honors in the women’s singles, while Buenaventura successfully defended his boys’ 18-and-under crown.

Arriola was her usual dominating self, as she easily pounded challenger Matty Buenaventura in the finals and secured her tiara with an easy 8-1 victory.

Ralph Buenaventura took a different route and had trouble disposing of fellow hard-hitting netter Jung Mun Chung in the finals.

Chung grabbed the upper hand early on and raced to a one-set advantage, taking the first set 6-3.

Determined to keep his title defense alive, Buenaventura put up a stronger fight in the second set and wore down Chung just enough to force a do-or-die third set, 6-3.

Both well experienced, Buenaventura and Chung went neck and neck in the rubber set and displayed just why both are ranked among the top youth netters in the Commonwealth. Buenaventura and Chung worked relentlessly and just could not break away from each other, as the championship needed a tiebreaker.

A couple of good breaks and a load of winners, however, allowed Buenaventura to nip Chung by a hairline and won the match and championship in a score of 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9-7).

Meanwhile, other singles champions included Russell Buenaventura, Joseph Motto Jr., Thea Minor, Vivian Lee, and Ed Johnson.

Russell added another crown to the Buenaventura family, successfully defending his boys’ 14-and-under championship with an 8-5 victory over Calvin Yang, while Motto retained his boys’ 10-and-under crown after outplaying Tatsumori Gotunda, 6-3.

For her part, Minor cruised to a 6-2 win over Amy Hudkins in the girls’ 10-and-under finale, while Lee bagged the 14-and-under crown, beating Audrey Motto 8-7 (7-1) Saturday.

Ed Johnson won the men’s 40-and-over title without even breaking into a sweat, winning by default over Richard Brostrom.

Champions for the two mixed-up doubles categories were also crowned. The dynamic duo of Ralph Buenaventura and Christopher Camacho took home the championship in the mixed-up doubles B after a hard-fought win over Nate Algaier and Benjie Decena, 8-6.

Russell Buenaventura and Calvin Yang won the mixed-up doubles A following an 8-6 victory over Laila Mailman and Joseph Motto Jr.

Before their title bout, Russell and Yang beat Roger Lee and Audrey Motto, 8-7, while Mailman and Joseph Motto strolled past Henry Yang and Dillon Thorpe, 8-1.

The Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Association hosted the tournament. After the tournament, club president Eli Buenaventura and tournament director Joe Motto extended their appreciation to players and parents for a well-played three days of tennis.