A full weekend of tennis up ahead is expected to commence today at the Hong Kong Tennis Champions Cup 2008 in Association with Mangrove West Coast, and hosted by the Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club, as defending men's singles champion, Wayne Wong, is slated to open proceedings in a Blue Group round robin match against Sean Cooper, while Goran Bosalevski will take on 2007 runner-up Yu Hiu Tung in a Red Group contest.
[Draws & Order of Play]
[Photo Gallery]
The doubles action later in the day will feature the likes of defending champions Henry So and Ma Rong, former two-time winners Jamie Holmes & Jason Lijewski, and 2003 winners Stephen So & Benny Lin.
"It is an honour for us to be staging the HK Tennis Champions Cup again, now in its fifth edition. As one of the premier tennis events locally, we take pride in being able to consistently attract the best players in town. This year is no exception, as we have Goran Bosalevski, who became only the third person to win the SCAA Open, CRC Open, and the HK Nationals all in the same season," said Tournament Director, Joel Ho.
"Besides the leading professionals, we have also attracted some of Hong Kong's rising stars over the years and this year we have Dino Dell'Orto, our top junior in Hong Kong. While doubles remain by invitational only, we have defending champions Henry So and Rong Ma, plus former winners Stephen So and Benny Lin."
He added, "The Parent & Child Doubles will be held concurrently with the tournament as we continue to raise funds for the HKTA, and we have added a Ladies' Doubles Challenge to cater to different sections of the tennis public as well as to highlight the family ideals that our club represents."
Since this annual tennis extravaganza was first inaugurated as the Clearwater Bay Indoor Doubles Classic in 2003, a number of leading local as well as overseas tennis professionals had, at one time or another, showcased their skills at this very tournament. Players such as Mark Kratzmann, John Hui, Melvin Tong, Wayne Wong, and Jamie Holmes, who amazingly had contested every doubles final in the history of the tournament thus far.
Three weeks prior to the inaugural event in December 2003, former HK Davis Cuppers John Hui and Melvin Tong had just combined to beat Mark Kratzmann and Andrew Town to win the CRC Open title. After going undefeated in the round robins, they were then seen engaged in a mighty semifinal face-off with Jamie Holmes and Andrew Town, which ended up in favour of the Aussies in a third set super-tiebreak, 5-7, 7-6(7), [15-13].
A couple of years earlier, of course, John and Melvin had collaborated to snatch a bronze medal at the 9th All China Games in Guangzhou. Then, at the Asian Championships less than two months later, they saw off No. 3 seeds Peter Handoyo and Suwandi Suwandi, 7-6(6), 6-3, in the opening round and No. 2 Takahiro Terachi and Hiroki Kondo in the semis, 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-4. Though in defeat to Lee Hyung-Taik and Chung Hee-Seok by the score of 7-5, 7-6(5), in the title decider, those results remain the best showing from HK players at those major competitions.
In reaching a doubles high of No. 157 in August 2002, John Hui thus registered the highest ATP Ranking achieved by a player from Hong Kong (singles or doubles). Without pointing to the obvious, he was also the first player from the territory to capture an NCAA Men's Division I All-American honor right after he beat then collegiate No. 1 James Blake to reach the doubles quarterfinals at the 1999 NCAA Championships.
Kratzmann, needless to say, is a familiar name in world tennis, having won three Junior Grand Slams in 1984 that included a victory over Boris Becker in the US Open Boys' final. Less than ten months later, Becker was to win the first of his three Wimbledon gentlemen's singles titles. In addition to being a former Davis Cup player for Australia, Kratzmann also held career-high ATP Rankings of No. 50 in singles and No. 5 in doubles.
As a junior, Holmes had his best year in 1991, when he reached the Boys' Singles semis (lost to eventual champion, Thomas Enqvist, who went on to reach the Boys' final at the French and then winning Wimbledon before turning pro) at the Australian Open Junior Championships, round of 16 at the French Open, and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. He was also runner-up at the 1991 Aussie Open Boys' Doubles (w/ Paul Kilderry).
As a pro, Holmes got his best results primarily in doubles, winning four Satellite doubles titles on the Australian circuit, and boasts doubles wins over Henman, Safin and Hewitt (thrice in 1997). He had competed in men's doubles at the Aussie Open at least five times, most recently in 1998; qualified for the doubles maindraw of Wimbledon in 1998 and played at the US Open doubles qualifying in 1997 and 1998.
In 2004, Jamie Holmes & Jason Lijewski first defeated defending champions Stephen So & Benny Lin 4-6, 6-1, [10-5], in the semifinals before getting the better of Yu Hiu Tung & Wayne Wong in the final, 7-6, 6-4. A year later, Holmes & Lijewski was at it again, as the Aussies beat Stephen So & Henry So, 6-2, 6-2, in the final to win their second successive Indoor Doubles title at Clearwater Bay.
Last year, Holmes and Lijewski were actually gunning for their third straight title but were thwarted in the final, 6-2, 6-3, by Henry So and Ma Rong, who was the top player of Guangzhou. Nevertheless, in reaching last year's final, Jamie Holmes thus became the only player to appear in every doubles final ever contested at Clearwater Bay thus far.
Once again, the Holmes-Lijewski combo will be returning to their happy hunting ground this year in search of their third title. It will certainly be interesting to see if the reformation of the 2003 championship winning pairing of Stephen So and Benny Lin could topple the two-time winners. However, also in contention is the Andrew Town-Adrian Montesinos partnership, as these two have managed to win two out of the three majors this year at the CRC Open and HK Nationals.
Finally, on the singles front, defending champion Wayne Wong will be hoping for a repeat performance similar to that of last year when he went undefeated in all matches to collect a maximum payout of HK$57,000. For this tournament, however, he is only seeded second. That's because we have a Triple Crown winner in the field.
In 2007, Goran Bosalevski emulated the feats of Colin Grant (1984) and Shane Barr (1997) by capturing all three local major men's singles championships at the SCAA Open, CRC Open and HK Nationals. He is seeded first and he will open his campaign in a Red Group round robin match against last year's runner-up, Yu Hiu Tung.
Just who shall reign supreme at the Hong Kong Tennis Champions Cup 2008? Stay Tuned!
Related Story: Holmes & Lijewski bags 2004 CWB Indoor Doubles Classic title
Results
Ladies' Doubles Challenge
Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club
21-24 January 2008
Premier
1st - Wendy Yung
2nd - Haj Wilcox
3rd - Yasuko Miesczalok
Div 1
1st - Sue Denham
2nd - Nicola Baird
3rd - Laura Robertson
Div 3
1st - Stacey Wyatt
2nd - Dolly Thomas
3rd - Lynn McGee
Div 5
1st - Tania Thorp
2nd - Zhanel Kee
3rd - Alke Reiter
The Hong Kong Tennis Champions Cup 2008
In Association with Mangrove West Coast
25 - 27 January 2008 | The Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club
139 Tai Au Mun Road, Clearwater Bay, New Territories, Hong Kong
Tel: 2335 3752 | Website: www.cwbgolf.org.