Field thins out in DFS tennis

Only 17 players remain from the 53 who began the weekend with championship aspirations in the singles division of the 24th Annual DFS Micronesian Tennis Championships at the Pacific Islands Club tennis courts.

Hard-hitting netter Rory Mackay and Felipe Quiroz are all that’s left in the men’s open and will take center stage today in a winner-take-all finale. Mackay has yet to loose a set in singles corner of the DFS scene, earning his finals ticket with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over youth standout Nicolas Son.

For his part, Quiroz had his way after being taken to the limit during his first two matches, beating Ralph Buenaventura 6-1, 6-1.

The title bout of the men’s over 40-and-over category is also set after Gary Ramsey scored a 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 nail-biter over Ed Johnson and Steve Nutting beat Joe Motto 6-1, 6-3 in the semifinals.

No. 1 Richard Asuncion also kept his charge alive after getting past Tony Santos. Asuncion took the first set 7-5 and both were knotted up at 4 apiece in the second set when Santos retired.

Asuncion was scheduled to play the winner between Motto and Ricky Castro in the semifinals, while the other half of the semis features Keith Gabaldon taking on Father Ryan Jimenez. Gabaldon put up a strong performance and defeated Russell Buenaventura 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, while Jimenez scored a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Eddie Kim.

The men’s 3.0 category was still in its semifinals stage as of press time, with cross-over sensation Mayuko Arriola battling young gun Joe Motto Jr. and Henry Pun taking on Henry Yang.

Meanwhile, the women’s open competition is all set for its finals after University of Hawaii student Amanda Weindl and Lila Mailman earned the two slots via straight sets victories.

Mailman defeated Vivian Lee 6-2, 6-0, while Weindl stopped Audrey Motto 6-1, 6-2.

Camryn Mosley and Sadako Arriola also arranged a finals tiff in the women’s 3.0 courtesy of walkover wins, with Mosley getting by Betty Johnson and Arriola going past Merle Hudkins.

Intense action was also featured on the doubles corner. Hunter Thorpe and Joe Motto Jr. are in the finals of the boys’ 12-and-under competition after pushing the right buttons in their semifinals bout against Dillon Thorpe and Miguel Brostrom for a 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 victory. They will play either Cody Race and Christian Miller or Bradley Brostrom and Todd Gotanda, who were still in their semifinals match as of press time.

After facing each other in last weekend’s 10-and-under finals, Melody Johnson and Thea Minor joined forces for the girls’ 12-and-under doubles and made it to the finals where they will face Coleo von Siebanthal and Jessica Soll.