Earlier in September, league players and award getters alike converged on Olympic House for the annual HKTA League Trophy Presentation where silverwares were handed out to this past season's respective champions and runners-up of the Winter and Summer Leagues. [Photo Gallery]

With the qualies now out of the way, opening round matches for the SCAA Open 2008 Men's and Ladies' Open Singles are now set to begin on Saturday, October 11. The No. 1 seed for both events will be in action, with Michael Lai taking on Enrico Abadia, while Feng Yidi is to go up against two-time reigning HK Nationals G18U champion, Wu Ho Ching.

Seeded 5th for the women's singles qualifying, 28th-ranked Venise Chan beat 47th-ranked Nina Munch-Soeggard (TCU), 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, to open her account at the 2008 Riviera/ITA All-American Women's Tennis Championships, but then fell to 109th-ranked pre-qualifier, Bianca Eichkorn (Miami), in the ensuing round, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, later on the same day.

Sophomore Venise Chan (Washington), who had just been accorded a preseason NCAA ranking of No. 28 last week, is set to face 47th-ranked Nina Munch-Soeggard (TCU) in the opening round of the women's singles qualifying at the 2008 Riviera/ITA All-American Tennis Championships – the season-opening major on the US collegiate circuit.

Hong Kong has been drawn to face the Philippines in an opening round tie of the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas in Asia/Oceania Zone Group II next year, which is being scheduled for the new time slot of March 6-8. The Filipinos were relegated from Group I following a whitewash by Kazakhstan in a Relegation Playoff last weekend in Astana City.

Support tennis development - Get your raffle tickets today!
Coinciding with the Hong Kong Tennis Foundation's 20th Anniversary, raffle tickets are now on sale until November 3. Aside from a range of fabulous prizes to be won, you will also be part of an on-going endeavour to raise much-needed funds for the development of junior tennis right here in Hong Kong.  The next generation of young tennis hopefuls depends on your generous support today!

At the US$10,000 ITF Women's Circuit in Kyoto, Japan, No. 1 seed Zhang Ling (WTA 325) and qualifier Jessica Yang (WTA 1078) are headed for a potential quarterfinal showdown after both players powered past their opponents in opening round action earlier on Tuesday.

The draws are set for this year's SCAA Open 2008 with Michael Lai and Feng Yidi heading the seeds for the men's and ladies' open singles respectively. Defending champion Goran Bosalevski, who won the local Triple Crown last year, is seeded second, followed by Brian Hung at three, and 2007 finalist Dino Dell'Orto at four.

The 60th CRC Open Hardcourt Tennis Championships, the middle leg of the local Triple Crown, is now open for entries. Prize money this year totals in excess of HK$140,000. Play is scheduled to commence during the first weekend of November. Deadline for entries is October 3, 2008 (Friday) at 5pm.

The HKTA's brand new Tennis Centre at Kowloon Tsai Park now offers a number of exciting training courses at very attractive prices for both adults and juniors. Group lessons based on a more attentive 1:6 coach to student ratio, as well as individuated one-on-one private lessons are just some of the available options.