Brian Yeung opened the men’s final with a devastating eight-game run against No. 4 seed Kelvin Lam to propel to a 6-0, 6-2 victory to earn his first SCAA Open title, while Eudice Chong beat No. 2 seed Cody Wong after the teenager was forced to retire when she trailed, 7-6(7), 2-0, in the final. With the Prudential Hong Kong National Tennis Championships and CRC Open titles already in their possession, their wins at the COVID-19 delayed SCAA Open 2020 thus allowed both Yeung and Chong to complete their respective men’s and ladies’ Triple Crowns.
On the men’s side last year, Yeung won the CRC Open after his opponent Kai Wai Yu retired when he was trailing 5-0 due to an injury and he followed that with a 6-2, 6-0 defeat of Jack Wong to win the Prudential Hong Kong National Tennis Championships. At the SCAA Open, although he faced a break point in each of his first two service games, Kelvin Lam was unable to convert and it proved costly, as the No. 1 seed strung together eight consecutive games to jump out to a whopping 6-0, 2-0 lead. Yeung did not face another break point the rest of the way and he eventually settled for a workmanlike 6-0, 6-2 win in less than an hour.
Earlier in the semifinals, Yeung got past Sunny Yue easily in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, while Lam upset No. 2 seed Jack Wong 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(3) in two hours and fifty minutes of play. Wong is the defending champion and the only four-time winner besides Colin Grant (1984, 1988, 1992-93) and Phillip King (2011-14).
Yeung and Lam last met on November 25 of last year in the quarterfinals of the Prudential Hong Kong National Tennis Championships where the former won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1.
In the ladies’ singles final, top seed Chong was facing second-seeded Cody Wong for the third tournament in a row. After Wong held to lead 1-0 to kickoff proceedings, Chong then took the next three games on the trot to go up 3-1. Wong returned the favour immediately and warded off a game point to break Chong to reestablish stalemate at 3-3. Servers held the rest of the way to arrive at the imminent tiebreak. The players exchanged a number of mini-breaks to get back on serve with Wong leading 5-4. Chong held consecutive serves to arrive at set point, leading 6-5. Wong did not budge and held successive serves to push the score up to 7-6 and set point. However, a huge serve and two well-constructed points later saw the top seed round off the breaker with three consecutive points, 9-7.
In the second set, Chong held easily for 1-0 and broke Wong to love for a quick-fire 2-0 lead. With the No. 1 seed serving, the score in the next game first went to deuce and then advantage Chong, when Wong was forced to retire due to illness. With the win, Chong completed the . Over the years, players who have accomplished local Triple Crown by capturing the ladies’ singles at the HK Nationals, SCAA Open, and CRC Open simultaneously in the same calendar year were Patricia Hy (1978), Paulette Moreno (1982 & 1984), Tong Ka Po (1997), Polly Lam (2002), Tiffany Wu (2009), and Katherine Ip (2010).
This year’s men’s doubles went to pre-tournament favourites, top-seeded Brian Yeung/Kevin Wong, who beat Adrian Yao/Sunny Yue 6-4, 6-3 to bag their first-ever title together at a local major even though the duo have combined for a bronze medal at the World University Games in 2017, as well as three Futures titles in 2018.
Vivian Lin, who partnered Tiffany Wu to capture the HK National ladies’ doubles in 2010/11 and then again the following year with Ng Kwan Yau, teamed up with 2015 CRC Open ladies’ doubles champ Nikita Tang to beat No. 4 seed Pinky Kwok/Kaye Au-Yeung 6-4, 6-1 to lift their first SCAA Open title.
The mixed doubles title went to No. 1 seed Kevin Wong/Eudice Chong after their opponents, No. 2 seed Jack Wong/Cody Wong withdrew from the final due to sickness. Earlier in the semifinals, Wong/Chong beat No. 3 seed Sunny Yue/Jacqueline Lam, 7-5, 6-3, while second-seeded Jack Wong/Cody Wong avoided a third set by edging past 4th seed Kelvin Lam/Maggie Ng, 6-2, 7-6(5).
In the junior events, Ethan Leung, winner of the CRC Open 2020 18 & Under title, won seven games in a row from 3-all in the first set to take command before settling for a 6-3, 6-1 victory against Malhar Rajpal to capture the boys’ singles, while third seed Chloris Li beat No. 4 seed Ophelia Tang in a wildly fluctuating break serve fest 6-4, 6-4 in over two hours’ of play to capture the girls’ singles crown.
Unseeded Melvin Lo/Jerry Cheng won six games in a row to take the opening set, lost the second in a close tiebreak, and then dominated the super-breaker to beat qualifiers Joshua Kim/Wong Tsz Fu 6-1, 6-7(4), [10-2] to capture the boys’ doubles title. Top-seeded Pinky Kwok/Law Wing Yin let slip a 5-2 lead to drop the opening set before they engineered a tough fightback against No. 2 seed Kaye Au-Yeung/Abby Fung to win 5-7, 7-6(4), [10-8] to capture the girls’ doubles title.