Having won the coin toss, Goran elected to receive. The third seed immediately had the two-time champion down 15-40 but four straight points by Wayne saw him hold for the opening game. After Goran held to love, he saved two game points and forced deuce on the No. 1 seed's serve. However, with help from a timely ace along the way, Wayne managed to hold sway again and held for 2-1. After another love game, Goran finally drew first blood and broke serve to go up 3-2 – a lead, which turned out, he would not concede the rest of the way.

Although he was taken to deuce after wasting a game point at 40-30 in the next game, Goran eventually did consolidate for a 4-2 advantage. Buoyed by another ace, Wayne then managed to hold at love for the first time and brought proceedings to 4-3. In the pivotal eighth game, the former champion's rustiness again reared its ugly head when he wasted 4 break point opportunities – three of them in succession when he had the No. 3 seed down 0-40 – and allowed Goran to escape with another hold.

Wayne then faced a set point on his serve in the ensuing game at 30-40 before winning three points in a row for 5-4, thus putting the onus back on Goran to come up with the crucial hold instead. In another momentum-swinging game that could have gone to the number one seed, wayward shot-making again proved costly, as he squandered two more break points to allow the No. 3 seed to hold for the first set, 6-4.

In all, the 2004-05 champion missed half a dozen break point chances in the opening set, and it was telling – for he did not have another one the rest of the way.

In fact, the No. 1 seed almost lost serve at the start of set two when he wasted three game points with a 40-0 lead, and was pegged back to deuce before winning the next two points to hold for 1-0. Then, out of nowhere, Goran conjured a match-turning five-game run, breaking Wayne twice more to take the score to, 5-1, before both players held nonchalantly to wrap up the set, and the match, 6-2.

Thus Goran finally won his first title here at CRC after going close on several occasions, as evidenced by his SF–SF–F showing over the previous three years at this tournament.

"I went into this match with Wayne under much less pressure seeing as I had lost all of our 4 meetings, but getting close in the CWB Classic at least left me with some positive thought going into this final," said the 2007 champion.

He added, "Wayne did look slower out there yesterday and maybe that is due to less playing time than he is used to, but having said that, I haven't been playing too much myself so I think that kind of levels it out a bit. Wayne also seemed to be clutching at his side near his abdominals so maybe he was not feeling 100% but as in Harry Hopman's philosophy...if you take to the court you are fit to play, no excuses."

The last time a player produced a match-clinching 5-game roll in the final was none other than Wayne Wong, when he came from 3-1 down in the second set to beat former ATP No. 229 and five-time Irish number one, Peter Clarke, 7-6(8), 6-3, in the 2004 title game to win his first CRC Open crown (See Related Story).

But that was then, and this is now.

With last month's SCAA Open having gone to the same player, the local Triple Crown is now unmistakably a live chance. Unless records suggest otherwise, should Goran Bosalevski triumph at the HK National Tennis Championships at Victoria Park next month, he will join the likes of Colin Grant (1984) and Shane Barr (1997) as the only players to capture all three majors in a calendar year.

However, with the HK Tennis Champions Cup to follow after the New Year, one more win at Clearwater Bay in January will surely make the potential four-trophy haul rather eye-catching, as well as a new benchmark for future pursuers.

Elsewhere, in what looked like a lopsided ladies' singles final beforehand, 15-year-old Sher Pui Wing, to her credit, did not merely become the only player to take games against the five-time champion, but at times even withstood the barrage long enough to frustrate the No. 1 seed somewhat.

In the end, Tong Ka Po, who had registered three successive wins without dropping a game in her earlier rounds, conceded five games to her young opponent before winning it, 6-2, 6-3. Though in defeat, the teenager received one of the loudest ovations on Sunday when she stepped forward to receive her runner-up trophy.

By bagging her sixth singles title, Tong Ka Po is now the sole record holder in this category of competition at the CRC Open. Before Sunday's final, Tong Ka Po (1996-97, 1999, 2001, 2004) and former HK Fed Cupper, Paulette Moreno (1981-82, 1984-85, 1992), were both tied at five apiece.

The men's doubles title went to the pairing of Andrew Town/Adrian Montesinos, who beat No. 2 seeds Goran Bosalevski/Jason Lijewski, 7-6(5), 6-3, in the final. In doing so, the Aussie tandem became the first team to win three such titles since Melvin Tong & Andy Brothers won three straight from 1997-99. Earlier in the semifinals, they came from a set down to account for top seeds Yu Hiu Tung/Michael Lai, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.

Other players to have won three or more men's doubles titles at the CRC Open include Edwin Tsai(11), Tsui Wai Pui(8), Ip Koon Hung(7), Andy Brothers(5), Kenneth Tsui(4), Richard Hawkes/Maurice Broom(4), Melvin Tong(4), William Koo(3), Tau Luu(3), Colin Grant(3), Wong Wai(3), and Graeme Foster(3).

The mixed doubles final against second seeds Andrew Lee/He Chun-Yan turned out to be a one-sided affair, as No. 1 seeds Yu Hiu Tung/Lam Po Kuen wasted no time in registering two love sets en route to their first title together as a tandem at the CRC Open. Lam Po Kuen also won the mixed doubles title over the past two years in collaboration with Wayne Wong, and thereby three-peating this year.

In the 150 Years or Over Combined Age Men's Doubles final, No. 1 seeds Dr. Stanley Ho and K. S. Leung defeated Ng Man Cheung and Eddy Lee, 8-3, to claim this event each and every year since its inception in 2002.

Results
59th CRC Open Hardcourt Tennis Championships
Chinese Recreation Club, Hong Kong
October – November 2007

MEN'S SINGLES FINAL
(3)Goran Bosalevski d. (1)Wayne Wong 6-4 6-2

LADIES' SINGLES FINAL
(1)Tong Ka Po d. Sher Pui Wing 6-2 6-3

MEN'S DOUBLES FINAL
(3)Andrew Town/Adrian Montesinos d. (2)Goran Bosalevski/Jason Lijewski 7-6(5) 6-3

LADIES' DOUBLES FINAL
(1)Lam Po Kuen/Chattida Thimjapo d. (2)Tong Ka Po/Tan Lynn Yin 3-6 6-1 6-2

MIXED DOUBLES FINAL
(1)Yu Hiu Tung/Lam Po Kuen d. (2)Andrew Lee/He Chun-Yan 6-0 6-0

SCHOOL BOYS' SINGLES FINAL
Lam Siu Fai d. Lui Shing Fung 7-5 6-4

SCHOOL GIRLS' SINGLES FINAL
Sher Pui Wing d. Leung Lok Sze 6-0 6-0

SCHOOL BOYS' DOUBLES FINAL
Chau Kwan Lam/Lui Shing Fung d. (1)Ricky Hui/Tyler Leung 3-6 6-4 6-4

MEN'S 35 OR OVER SINGLES
Andrew Town d. Andres Battad  w/o

MEN'S 35 OR OVER DOUBLES
(1)Stephen So/Andrew Lee d. Andres Battad/Jesus Lapore 6-4 6-0

MIXED DOUBLES 40 OR OVER
(2)Poon Shui Wing/Sin Tan d. (1)Andres Battad/Mika Katsuhara 7-6(3) 6-4

LADIES' 40 OR OVER DOUBLES
Mari Shimizu/Katsumi Takahashi d. (1)Vivian Wong/Sin Tan 6-3 6-3

MEN'S 45 OR OVER DOUBLES
(2)Poon Shui Wing/Samson Siu d. (1)C.K. Wong/William Hung 7-6(4) 0-6 [10-4]

MEN'S 55 OR OVER DOUBLES
(1)Bernardo Valleramos/Mauricio Buhia d. (2)Patrick Fung/Patrick Kwan 6-2 6-1

150 YEARS OR OVER COMBINED AGE MEN'S DOUBLES
(1)Dr. Stanley Ho/K.S. Leung d. Ng Man Cheung/Eddy Lee 8-3