At the G4 Hong Kong ITF Junior Tournament on Saturday, No. 4 seed Brian Yeung (ITF 307) beat regular doubles partner Kevin Wong (ITF 526) in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5, to win his maiden singles title on the world junior circuit.

"Well I didn't know I could win a singles title until now," said the newly crowned champion. "The standard is getting higher in Hong Kong. It was extremely tough and I am really happy about the win."

Results   |    Roll of Honour (2004-2012)

Brian Yeung was contesting his second career singles final after having finished runner-up to Japan's Ryota Kishi at the 2010 Hong Kong Open Junior Championships.

Kevin Wong, on the other hand, was competing in his first-ever final in singles.

As a tandem, however, the duo has combined for four career doubles titles on the world junior circuit to date. In fact, their partnership tasted defeat just once during last year's Junior Davis Cup World Finals, courtesy of a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, loss to Italians Stefano Napolitano (ITF 9) and Matteo Donati (ITF 70).

Brian Yeung, who served fourteen aces in his semifinal win over top seed Liu Siyu (ITF 98), continued to throw down booming first serves in Saturday's final.

Even though he tallied only four aces, his efforts were well compensated in the form of first serve winners, which wreaked havoc persistently for Kevin Wong during the title decider.

"Basically, I got bombarded with ballistic missiles [serves] all day all the time today," lamented Kevin Wong. "Even when I guessed right and got a racquet to it, controlling the returns was very difficult."

A break of serve in the opening game of the match was all Brian Yeung needed to take the first set, 6-4, as he managed to save the only pair of break points he faced by winning protracted baseline exchanges when taken to deuce twice in the sixth game.

In the second set, the No. 4 seed again drew early blood and broke Kevin Wong to love to jump out to a 3-1 lead.

Just when it seemed the floodgates might be opening, Kevin Wong conjured several attacking forecourt maneuvers and took advantage of some sloppy play from his opponent to break for the first time in the match.

From 3-1 down, he won the next three games to get back on serve and held a slender, 4-3, lead.

There were no further breaks until Brian Yeung slammed a pair of aces to force a 5-5 impasse and then proceeded to break Kevin Wong to 15 in the ensuing game with several well-struck crosscourt forehands.

Other than a decent confirmatory shout of vamos! at the end, the No. 4 seed duly held his final service game without much fanfare to claim the set and the match, 6-4, 7-5.

By winning this week's Grade 4 singles title, Brian Yeung is set to receive 40 computer-ranking points, in addition to the 15 points for reaching the semis in doubles. Regardless of how far he will jump in the rankings, one thing is certain: He shall easily surpass his previous high of No. 289.

In fact, the 30 points earned by Kevin Wong in singles, plus the 15 in doubles, would probably propel him towards the vicinity of his previous best of No. 401 as well.

Meanwhile, in the girls' singles, China's 15-year-old Li Huijie (ITF 769) beat 6-foot-2 compatriot Zhang Ying, 6-1, 7-5, in the final to take home her first singles title on the ITF Junior Circuit.

Li Huijie started the final with a bang, winning the first five games in a row to take a commanding 5-0 lead before Zhang Ying broke back to get on the board. Unfortunately, she double faulted on set point in the ensuing game to concede the set disappointingly, 6-1.

After exchanging a pair of early breaks in the second set, it was Li Huijie who took the initiative when she broke Zhang Ying in the eighth game.

Serving for the match with a 5-3 lead in hand, however, a tentative Li Huijie quickly fell behind 0-40. Although she managed to win the next three points to force deuce, Zhang Ying would not go away without a fight and broke back to 5-5.

With the set seemingly heading towards an inevitable tiebreak, Li Huijie showed better resolve and produced more forward looking play in the end to break Zhang Ying to love to end the contest, 6-1, 7-5.

This week, Li Huijie made a mockery of the world rankings, as she eliminated No. 5 seed Rongrong Leenabanchong (ITF 457) in the second round, No. 4 seed Marian Jade Capadocia (ITF 456) in the last eight, and No. 2 seed Maika Jae Tanpoco (ITF 337) in the semifinals.

Previously, a lone semifinal appearance at the Grade 5 in Tianjin last May had been her best result to date.

On Friday, Li Huijie already bagged the girls' doubles when she teamed up with Kang Jia Qi to defeat Anna Grigoryan of Russia and Pernilla Wohlstrom of Finland, 6-1, 6-4, in the decider.

In doing so, Li Huijie became the first unseeded player to win both the girls' singles and doubles at the same time here at the Hong Kong ITF Junior Tournament since its inception back in 2004.

In the boys' doubles, 6th-seeded Chinese pair Sun Fajing and Xu Shuai, surprise conquerors of Hong Kong's Brian Yeung and Kevin Wong in the semis, capped off their Cinderella run with an upset win against top seeds Liu Siyu and Zhu Zhicheng in the final, 6-4, 3-6, [10-7].



Results
Hong Kong ITF Junior Tournament (G4)
Victoria Park, Causeway Bay
January 16-21, 2012

BOYS' SINGLES FINAL
(4)Brian Yeung (HKG) d. (14)Kevin Wong (HKG) 6-4 7-5


GIRLS' SINGLES FINAL
Li Huijie (CHN) d. Zhang Ying (CHN) 6-1 7-5


BOYS' DOUBLES FINAL
(6)Sun Fajing/Xu Shuai (CHN) d. (1)Liu Siyu/Zhu Zhicheng (CHN) 6-4 3-6 [10-7]


GIRLS' DOUBLES FINAL
Li Huijie/Kang Jia Qi (CHN) d. Anna Grigoryan/Pernilla Wohlstrom (RUS/FIN) 6-1 6-4

Homepage photo courtesy of Donald Chin