The favourites going into Sunday's final at the SCAA Open Tennis Championships 2007 justified their billings, as top seed Goran Bosalevski was steady as ever when mattered most in his 6-2, 6-4 victory over 16-year-old Dino Dell'Orto in the men's final, while defending champion and No. 3 seed, He Chun-Yan, was equally proficient in her 6-3, 6-2 win over surprise package Maya Takizawa in the ladies' final.

Tournament Website: www.scaatennisopen.org.

First up after the singles was the men's doubles final where Goran Bosalevski/Jason Lijewski are the No. 1 seeds and the defending champions. They looked ominously close to not being able to repeat, as No. 2 seeds Jason Sankey/Graeme Foster had them down a set and the score 5-5 in the second. But the number one seeds conjured a momentum-swinging break to strong-arm the second set 7-5 and from then on never looked back; as they went on to bag the final set, 6-1.

Then in the third final of the day for Goran, he collaborated with Lam Po Kuen to defeat the brother-sister pairing of Tong Tat Fu and Tong Ka Po, 6-3, 6-4 to win the mixed doubles title.


Also on Sunday were the ladies' singles and ladies' doubles finals. Defending champion and No. 3 seed, He Chun-Yan, won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, to see off the challenge of Maya Takizawa, who had earlier upset No. 1 seed, Geraldine Leong, in the opening round. A native of China, He Chun-Yan, is still only 24 this year but has played on the pro circuit before, as evidenced by her career-high WTA Ranking of No. 850 in singles and No. 447 in doubles. She has also registered wins against Japan's Aiko Nakamura, Yang Shu-Jing, and Indonesia's Dea Sumantri prior to taking up residence in Hong Kong.


The occasion of contesting a local major final for the first time was enough to stir up a few butterflies, as nerves slightly got the better of the teenager at the start of the men's title match. Early unforced errors brought tentativeness to his game and Dino was then subsequently made to mostly defend as a result of the No. 1 seed seizing on the opportunities that were unfolding.

Although spectators only numbered in the hundreds instead of the thousands, it still exhibited enough crowd effect to meddle with the youngster's psyche. When combined with the fact that this was arguably one of the biggest matches of his career thus far, it is not too difficult to comprehend as to why shots made regularly earlier in the week were at times off the mark in the final.


Nevertheless, after a somewhat edgy first set, Dino broke the top seed to go up 2-0 in the second. When attempting to consolidate the break, however, unforced errors again proved costly, as Goran was able to regain the break of serve and from there, broke the youngster one more time soon after for the crucial advantage to eventually post a 6-2, 6-4 victory.


"I thought I played quite well in the final and I did enough to get through that match. Dino played some good tennis to reach his first final in an Open in HK and is improving his game all around, but he made things difficult for himself by handing me way too many unforced errors. That said, I did feel some pressure when Dino had me down 0-2 in the 2nd set, but he didn't play a solid enough game on his serve to let me back in. That kind of renewed my confidence and momentum a little, and after that point, I felt in control again," said Goran.


"With added work on his game I think Dino can improve a lot more, especially his strong (but sometimes inconsistent) forehand, which is his weapon I believe. His game has matured but I can see more room for improvement, which is always a good thing," he added. "Personally, it feels great to get my first singles title here after coming close on a number of occasions. Hopefully, I can win another major title in the not too distant future."


Evidently, some professionals also struggled with their first big finals. Case in point: After turning pro in 1998 as the world's No. 1-ranked junior, it took Roger Federer almost 18 months and close to some 30 tournaments before he reached his first Tour final at Marseilles – and he lost. Another 20 tournaments went by during the latter half of 2000 before his second career Tour final – which he lost again.

Then, in January 2001, two-and-a-half years after he went pro, Federer, who some say is already the best player ever, French or no French, finally won his first ATP Tour level tournament in Milan on his third try.


As it turned out, Bosalevski, a former Macedonia Davis Cupper, went on to win the men's doubles as well as the mixed doubles finals on Sunday, which made him a "Triple" winner at this year's SCAA Open.


However, the distinction of being the first player to do the "Men's Triple" at SCAA was Michael Walker in 1989. That year, he paired up with Pang Lui to win the men's doubles, and then partnered Pang's younger sister, Pang Sheung, to win the mixed.


Andrew Town also did it in 2003 when he teamed up with Jamie Holmes for the men's doubles and then with Cindy Lee for the mixed.


At the same time, two players also managed to do the "Ladies' Triple" over the years. Unless records suggest otherwise, the first was Paulette Moreno in 1985 when, aged 16, she teamed up with Liza Kwok for the ladies' doubles and then Pang Lui for the mixed. Then in 1988, that feat was equaled by Eleanor Lightbody, who collaborated with Liza Kwok for the doubles and 15-year-old Fredrik Bach for the mixed.

In the ladies' doubles final, former Hong Kong number one and WTA No. 236, Tong Ka Po, teamed up with teenager Geraldine Leong to beat second-seeded Lam Po Kuen and Cindy Lee, 6-1, 7-5.


Next up…


This year's CRC Open will commence October 27, while the Hong Kong National Tennis Championships at Victoria Park will take place from November 17 to December 16.

Results
HK$100,000 SCAA Open Tennis Championships 2007
King's Park, Kowloon
Sep - Oct 2007

MEN'S OPEN SINGLES FINAL
(1)Goran Bosalevski d. Dino Dell'Orto 6-2 6-4


LADIES' OPEN SINGLES FINALS
(3)He Chun-Yan d. Maya Takizawa 6-3 6-2


MEN'S OPEN DOUBLES FINAL
(1)Goran Bosalevski/Jason Lijewski d. (2)Jason Sankey/Graeme Foster 4-6 7-5 6-1


LADIES' OPEN DOUBLES FINAL
(1)Geraldine Leong/Tong Ka Po d. (2)Lam Po Kuen/Cindy Lee 6-1 7-5


MIXED DOUBLES FINAL
(1)Goran Bosalevski/Lam Po Kuen d. (2)Tong Tat Fu/Tong Ka Po 6-4 6-3


CHAIRMAN'S CUP MEN'S SINGLES FINAL
Lui Sing Fung d. Wong Yat Sing 6-0 6-4


CHAIRMAN'S CUP LADIES' SINGLES FINAL
Carina Chen d. Shene Pui Yee 6-0 6-1


CHAIRMAN'S CUP MEN'S DOUBLES FINAL
Lam Siu Fai/Lam Wing Lun d. Fong Kar Chun/Kenneth Ip 6-0 6-2


CHAIRMAN'S CUP WOMEN'S DOUBLES FINAL
Li Hoi Yi/Ma Shiu Kwan d. Wang Yan Ning/Yu Ching Wai