However, the manner in which the top two seeds advanced could not have been more contrasting. While No. 2 seed Michael Lai was generally on-fire in almost all aspects of his game and conceding just three games in his showdown with third seed, Dino Dell'Orto, top seed Goran Bosalevski was made to work double overtime for his semifinal victory.

Against Town, a former three-time winner of this event, the number one seed and reigning SCAA and CRC Open winner actually yielded the opening set to the fourth-seeded Aussie, 6-4, before powering back to take the second, 6-0.

In the third set, the No. 4 seed managed to go up by a break with Goran having needed to hold serve to stay in the match at 5-3 down. Then serving for the match at 5-4, Town, who won back-to-back here at VP from 1998-99, got broken, was taken to a tiebreak, which he eventually lost 7-5.

This season, Goran was taken to a third set now three times. On each occasion, the final set had been decided by a tiebreak. In round two at last month's CRC Open, he was extended to three sets by Jason Lijewski before winning it, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(2). That was followed by another hard-fought semifinal win against Michael Lai, which resulted in another final set tiebreak, 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(2).

"Andrew played a smart match against me, using different types of balls and it unsettled me a bit last night. I feel good going into the final and I am looking forward to it. This time around though I will be looking to get off to a much better start than in the CRC Open where I let Michael get a big jump start on me," said Goran.

He added, "Having said that, I am not thinking about the Triple Crown though, I just want to go out there and play good tennis and hopefully that is enough to win on the day."

In the other semifinal, No. 2 seed Michael Lai could not put a foot wrong, as Dino Dell'Orto recounts, "I don't think I played bad at all, he just returned really well and was rock solid from the back. I had no choice but tried to end the points early. I was under pressure most of the time and felt like I had to come up with a super shot every time in order to win a point. And when you're under that kind of constant pressure, you'd make mistakes."

"Basically last night he showed quickness and agility, and in general just moved extremely well. Court coverage was incredible and served a high percentage of first serves. He played well, full credit to him."

Earlier in the quarterfinals, the top-four seeds all came through with straight sets victories, as No. 1 Goran Bosalevski took out doubles partner, Jason Lijewski, 6-4, 7-6(5), while No. 4 Andrew Town saw off Enrico Abadia without much fanfare in a 6-3, 6-3 win. In the bottom bracket, SCAA Open 2007 runner-up and No. 3 seed Dino Dell'Orto did what he had to in disposing unseeded Ross Elliott, 6-4, 6-4, while Michael Lai, the number two seed, beat 5-8th seed Jason Sankey, 6-3, 6-4

In the Ladies' B Singles semifinals last night at Victoria Park, third-seeded 14 year-old Leung Lok Sze turned the tables on No. 2 seed Ki Yan Tung with a 6-4, 7-5 victory to propel herself into Saturday's final where she will face Lin Wing Man, who upset No. 4 seed Shene Pui Yee, 2-6, 6-1, 6-1.

Leung Lok Sze had previously lost to Ki Yan Tung in the opening round of the 2005 CRC Open School Girls Singles.

For the second year, Leung Lok Sze was a member of the Hong Kong World Junior Tennis team that competed at the Asia/Oceania Qualifying. In India earlier in April, although in defeat, she was not a tiny bit disgraced against both Indonesia's Cynthia Melita and Uzbekistan's Alisa Ogorodova in the first two round robin matches. In the all-important final group match, she teamed up Katherine Ip to win the decisive doubles to secure HK a 2-1 win against Malaysia to qualify for the 9th-16th Place playoffs.

Cynthia Melita was a member of the ITF Asian 14U Team that toured Europe this summer. As it turned out, she was a consolation finalist at the Le 13/14 des Hauts-de-Seine in France and a doubles winner at the 30 Rheinenergie Cup in Cologne, Germany.

In the ensuing match, with Katherine Ip out with a bout of sudden sickness, it was Leung Lok Sze who, together with Shene Pui Yee, led the territory to a 3-0 win against Sri Lanka to progress to the 9th-12th Place Playoff against the Philippines. Although she won the opening singles against opposing number, Shannin Mae Olivarez, 6-4, 6-1, Filipino No.1 Jonicka Guba then almost single-handedly won the remaining two points to beat Hong Kong, 2-1.

The HK team eventually placed 12th after going down against a very good Chinese Taipei contingent in the 11th-12th Place Playoff.

Besides the World Junior Tennis competition, Leung Lok Sze was also a member of the Hong Kong team that competed at the ITF 14U Asian Championships – Group I, as well as the 6th National Cities Games in Wuhan this year. Along with Dino Dell'Orto, James Raffini, Tyler Leung, Sher Pui Wing, and James Kong, she also competed at the prestigious Jr Orange Bowl 44th Int'l Tennis Championships in Miami, Florida, in 2005.

In a continuation of the men's doubles semifinal, which stood at 1-1 set all when lights were turned off at their customary 11pm on Tuesday evening, No. 2 seed Goran Bosalevski/Jason Lijewski defeated third-seeded Yu Hiu Tung/Michael Lai, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. In the final, scheduled for 8:30pm Thursday (December 13), they will face top-seeded Andrew Town/Adrian Montesinos, who had earlier saw off the fourth-seeded tandem of Jason Sankey/Graeme Foster, 6-4, 6-3.

This year's SCAA Open title went to the Bosalevski/Lijewski combination, while the Town/Montesinos pairing was victorious at last month's CRC Open. Thus, whichever team wins the showdown tonight will become the unofficial No. 1 doubles tandem in the territory this season.

In the Ladies' B Doubles final played last night, sixth-seeded Vickie Ip/Lin Wing Man, who are both 12 years of age, upset No. 1 seeds Yvonne Wong/Nickie Ma, 6-1, 6-1, to take home the title. Yvonne Wong and Nickie Ma are the current number one-ranked G14 doubles team in Hong Kong.

Check out the latest results and Order of Play.

Results
HK National Tennis Championships 2007
Victoria Park Tennis Courts
17 Nov – 16 Dec 2007

DOCTOR'S CHOICE MEN'S OPEN SINGLES

Semifinals
(1)Goran Bosalevski d. (4)Andrew Town 4-6 6-0 7-6(5)
(2)Michael Lai d. (3)Dino Dell'Orto 6-2 6-1


MEN'S OPEN DOUBLES

Semifinals
(1)Andrew Town/Adrian Montesinos d. (4)Jason Sankey/Graeme Foster 6-4 6-3
(2)Goran Bosalevski/Jason Lijewski d. (3)Yu Hiu Tung/Michael Lai 4-6 6-4 6-4


LADIES' B SINGLES

Semifinals
Lin Wing Man d. (3-4)Shene Pui Yee 2-6 6-1 6-1
(3-4)Leung Lok Sze d. (2)Ki Yan Tung 6-4 7-5


LADIES' B DOUBLES

Final
(6)Vickie Ip/Lin Wing Man d. (1)Yvonne Wong/Nickie Ma 6-1 6-1

Photo courtesy of fotop.net/nktsang/nktsang16