At a wind-chilled G1 Japan Open Jr Championships on Wednesday, Dino Dell'Orto (ITF 178) was attempting to emulate the feats of some of his illustrious predecessors from Hong Kong, as he was gunning for a place in the boys' quarterfinals. However, he ran into a player who had been on fire since the main round started.

Having disposed of No. 12 seed Akash Wagh of India in straight sets, 7-6(4), 6-1, on Tuesday to move into the last sixteen of an ITF Grade 1 event for the first time, Dino was aiming for a bit of history earlier this afternoon at the Higashiyama Park Tennis Centre. For a win today would have equaled the best showing by a Hong Kong player at the Japan Open Junior Championships.

Over the years, Sven Koehler, John Hui, Wayne Wong, and Brian Hung had all been, at one time or another, a quarterfinalist at the Grade 1 event.

Although Dino, the present day HK number one, was facing a 1237th-ranked lucky-loser from Japan, Daichi Kato, buoyed by his dismissal of No. 7 seed Logan McKenzie in the previous round, once again showed form today simply never seen before prior to this week's event. For the third straight day, he was "in the zone" from start to finish, with the only let-up coming in the middle of the second set, which Dino duly took to register his only break of the match.

Other than that, the Japanese basically painted the lines all match long and hit winners off of almost every opportunity he got. By conservative counts, Kato, who is only playing in his 11th career tournament to date since debuting at the G5 Hyogo in August 2005, produced close to 35 outright winners while giving up approximately just 3 unforced errors.

The Japanese, who turns 18 this August, had only managed career-best round two showings at the G5 Hyogo and G5 Saitama to date. In Nagoya this week, he lost, 6-4, 7-5, to compatriot Shoto Tagawa in the final round of the qualies and just made it to the maindraw as a lucky-loser.

Since then, however, Kato has been a different player altogether, scoring victories over Christopher Young (ITF 229) in the first round, 7-6(4), 6-0; No. 7 seed Logan MacKenzie (ITF 91), 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(4), and now Dino (ITF 178) in the third, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

Kato next faces fourth-seeded compatriot Tadayuki Longhi (ITF 50) for a place in the semifinals. Longhi is the highest seed left in the bottom of the draw after the elimination of No. 2 seed Cho Soong-Jae (ITF 30) earlier today. Top seed Andrew Thomas of Australia (ITF 21) is still alive after he beat No. 15 seed Yuki Matsuo, 6-3, 6-2, this afternoon.

In the doubles, Dino Dell'Orto and Kelsey Stevenson overcame No. 6 seeds Huang Liang-Chi of Chinese Taipei and Logan MacKenzie of New Zealand, in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4. The HK-Canadian tandem will next face the fourth-seeded pairing of Niki Moser of Austria and Dane Propoggia of Australia for a place in the semis.

The winner of this match will face either No. 1 seeds Andrew Thomas and Hiroki Moriya or No. 5 seeds Tadayuki Longhi and Yuki Matsuo of Japan for a place in the final.

The HK-Indo combination of Gary Yam and Christopher Marquis, meanwhile, went down against No. 5 seeds Tadayuki Longhi and Yuki Matsuo in round two, 6-2, 6-1, earlier today.

Previously...

In 2003, in his last tournament as a junior, Brian Hung, seeded 11th, made it to the quarterfinals before he was upended by Tomohiro Toriya, 3-6, 7-6(6), 1-6. That year, Toriya annihilated No. 3 seed Somdev Dev Varman in round two, 6-1, 6-4.  Dev Varman, now a senior at the University of Virginia, had been sitting atop the US Collegiate Rankings since May 29, 2007, when he beat John Isner (Georgia) to win the NCAA Singles Championship.

In 1999, Wayne Wong was seeded 7th for the Japan Open Jr Championships where he managed to hack his way to the quarterfinals before going down against No. 2 seed and eventual champion Jaochim Johansson, 6-3, 6-4. In the doubles, Wayne again lost to Johansson in the quarterfinals, when the Swede teamed up with Mardy Fish to beat the Wayne Wong-Michael Wu combo, 6-4, 7-5. Johansson and Fish went on to take the doubles title. Other notable names to play that year include Andy Roddick, David Martin, Lu Yen-Hsun, Wang Yeu-Tzuoo, John-Paul Fruttero, Todor Enev, and Go Soeda.

In 1996, John Hui, though unseeded, also made his way to the quarterfinals before bowing out to No. 2 seed Vladimir Voltchkov, 6-1, 7-6. In addition, he was a two-time quarterfinalist in the doubles, in 1996 with Daniel Larouche of Canada, and in 1994 with Surya Wijaya-Budi of Indonesia.

In 1993, Sven Koehler, seeded 7th, was looking for a place in the semifinals when he ran into a red-hot Satoshi Iwabuchi, as the eventual champion from Japan beat the former HK junior number one in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. However, Sven Koehler then teamed up with Steven Downs of Australia and overcame a one-set deficit to beat Mark Philippoussis and Jay Salter, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6, to lift the doubles title that year.

Results
Dunlop Japan Open Junior Championships (G1)
Nagoya City Higashiyama Park Tennis Centre
21 March - 5 April 2008

BOYS' SINGLES

First Round
Dino Dell'Orto (HKG) d. Faris Akhazzan (GBR) 6-4 7-5
Riki McClachlan (NZL) d. Gary Yam (HKG) 6-4 6-2

Second Round
Dino Dell'Orto (HKG) d. (12)Akash Wagh (IND) 7-6(4) 6-1

Third Round
(LL)Daichi Kato (JPN) d. Dino Dell'Orto (HKG) 6-3 3-6 6-2

BOYS' DOUBLES

First Round
Dino Dell'Orto/Kelsey Stevenson (HKG/CAN) d. Hikaru Kawasaki/Motoaki Kita (JPN) 6-3 7-6(4)
Gary Yam/Christopher Marquis (HKG/INA) d. Lin Keng-Chen/Lin Yi-Lun (TPE) 7-6(3) 6-3

Second Round
Dino Dell'Orto/Kelsey Stevenson (HKG/CAN) d. (6)Huang Liang-Chi/Logan MacKenzie (TPE/NZL) 6-4 6-4
(5)Tadayuki Longhi/Yuki Matsuo (JPN) d. Gary Yam/Christopher Marquis (HKG/INA) 6-2 6-1