Defending champion Jack Wong powered to a record-setting sixth SCAA Open men’s singles title with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Latvian qualifier, Rihards Emulins. Meanwhile, third seed Ki Yan Tung claimed her third ladies’ singles crown after beating No. 4 seed Nikita Tang 6-4 6-2 in Sunday’s final.
After breaking his opponent in the second game to go up 2-0, Wong proceeded to win just three points in his next two services games, as Emulins broke back twice to take a 3-2 lead. That seemed to have flicked a switch for the top seed, as he went on a four-game run to close out the opener 6-3.
Emulins began the second set with a love hold. Wong then squandered five game points in a row before he leveled at 1-1. He then strong-armed the next four games for a whopping 5-1 advantage to gain a stranglehold. Serving for the win leading 5-2, the defending champ wasted two match points at 40-15 and was then forced to save a break point before finally sealing the deal 6-3 6-2.
Since the SCAA Open became the first of the three local majors to offer prize money in 1978, Wong is the player with the most men’s singles titles, winning it as a 17-year-old against Phillip King in 2015, then followed by victories over Karan Rastogi in 2016, Brian Yeung in 2017 and 2019, and Ethan Leung in 2022.
With this year’s Hong Kong National Tennis Championships and SCAA Open titles in the bag, Wong now heads to the CRC Open in search of back-to-back Triple Crowns having swept all three in 2022. To date, Wong has captured an all-time leading fourteen local majors – Four Hong Kong National Tennis Championships, six SCAA Opens, and four CRC Opens.
In the ladies final, No. 3 seed Ki Yan Tung broke 4th seed Nikita Tang’s serve in the 3rd, 5th, and 7th games to take the opener 6-4. Then, with an early break in hand, Ki went on a three-game run to establish a 5-1 lead before concluding matters with a 6-4 6-2 victory to lift her third career SCAA Open ladies’ singles title.
In the ladies’ doubles final, Ki Yan Tung/Skylar Wan trailed by a break twice in the first set but won four games in a row from 5-3 down to nab the opener 7-5. After losing serve to begin the second, they used another four-game run to break open proceedings before settling for a 7-5 6-3 victory over No. 2 seed Nicole Tsang/Yu Wing Sze.
Third seed Steve Ng/Ki Yan Tung defeated Fong Kar Chun/Nicole Tsang 6-4 6-1 to win the mixed doubles. In doing so, Ki Yan Tung became the first player to capture the ladies’ singles, doubles, and mixed titles in the same year at SCAA since Ellinore Lightbody in 1988. The first player to accomplish this feat was Hall of Famer, Paulette Moreno, who did it at age 15 in 1984 and again as a 16-year-old in 1985.
Results
SCAA Open Tennis Championships
South China Athletic Association, King’s Park
Aug 10-Oct 29, 2023
Men’s Singles Final
(1)Jack Wong d. (q)Rihards Emulins (LAT) 6-3 6-2
Ladies’ Singles Final
(3)Ki Yan Tung d. (4)Nikita Tang 6-4 6-2
Men’s Doubles Final
(3)Jack Wong/Dasson Chan d. (q)Manuel Jorquera/Ramazan Nureev 6-3 1-6 [10-4]
Ladies’ Doubles Final
Ki Yan Tung/Skylar Wan d. (2)Nicole Tsang/Yu Wing Sze 7-5 6-3
Mixed Doubles Final
(3)Steve Ng/Ki Yan Tung d. (4)Fong Kar Chun/Nicole Tsang 6-4 6-1