World No. 53 Adhithya Ganesan (USA), winner of last week’s J100 at Victoria Park, picked up where he left off, as he beat top-seeded world No. 37 Kim Jangjun (KOR) 7-6(2) 6-3 to lift his fourth title this year. Meanwhile, Daria Shadchneva took out four seeded opponents, including No. 4 Victoria Milovanova in the final 3-6 6-3 6-3, to claim her biggest title to date.
Since exiting in the third round of the Osaka Mayor’s Cup last month, Ganesan has now won three tournaments in a row – J200 Nagoya, J100 Hong Kong, and J200 Hong Kong. Although he finished 2022 with a year-end ranking of No. 125, he had never won a title until the J100 Sobota in June 2023. With this week’s 200 points, he could crack the top 30 when the latest rankings are released early next week. Kim is currently the highest-ranked player among the four Koreans who are in the top 100. The American and the Korean had already faced-off with one another three times this year, with the former winning in the J200 Nagoya and J200 Hong Kong finals, while the latter prevailed in the J200 Delhi semifinals back in January.
Ganesan won the USTA Boys‘ 18 National Doubles title at Kalamazoo in August and earned a maindraw wildcard for the men’s doubles at the US Open 2023, where he lost in straight sets to Thanasi Kokkinakis and Tallon Griekspoor. His name also appears on the Cornell University men’s tennis web page, which lists him as an incoming freshman for the 2023/24 NCAA season.
In an epic boys’ doubles final, No. 2 seed Imran Abdul Hazli/Rohan Belday (MAS/USA) dodged a match point when they trailed 9-8 in the third set super-tiebreak to beat Hong Kong’s Dasson Chan/Wong Tsz Fu 7-5 4-6 [11-9]. Chan/Wong did well to beat No. 1 seed Kim Jangjun/Hugh Winter (KOR/AUS) (6)6-7 6-2 [10-8] in the quarterfinals and then accounted for No. 3 seed Connor Church/Stephane Kamendje (CAN) in the semifinals in straight sets 7-5 6-1.
In the title showdown, Abdul Hazli/Belday took the last four games in a row to grab the first set 7-5. Then, Chan/Wong responded in kind by taking the final four games of the second set to win it 6-4. In the ensuing third set super-tiebreak, Abdul Hazli/Belday produced two mini-breaks to jump out to a 5-0 lead. Chan/Wong then gradually clawed their way back into the fold to catch up with the No. 2-seeded pair at 8-8. The HK duo broke Belday again to arrive at 9-8 match point with two Chan serves to come. However, it was not meant to be, as the Malaysian-US combo turned the tables by coming up with the next three points to end the contest.
In the girls’ doubles final, Victoria Milovanova/Daria Shadchneva and No. 1 seed Wen I Wan/Zhang Junhan (TPE/CHN) exchanged early breaks before a crucial breakthrough against Wen’s serve in the penultimate game saw the European pair take the opener 6-4. In the second, it was the top seed who produced successive breaks to jump out to a 5-1 lead before they won it 6-3 to even at a set apiece. In the ensuing third set super-tiebreak, Milovanova/Shadchneva managed to secure four early mini-breaks to propel themselves to a huge 7-1 advantage before settling for a 10-3 score line. Games, set, and match to the fourth seed 6-4 3-6 [10-3].
Results
J200 Hong Kong
Victoria Park
October 30-November 4, 2023
Boys’ Singles Final
(3)Adhithya Ganesan (USA) d. (1)Kim Jangjun (KOR) 7-6(2) 6-3
Girls’ Singles Final
Daria Shadchneva d. (4)Victoria Milovanova 3-6 6-3 6-3
Boys’ Doubles Final
(2)Imran Abdul Hazli/Rohan Belday (MAS/USA) d. Dasson Chan/Wong Tsz Fu (HKG) 7-5 4-6 [11-9]
Girls’ Doubles Final
(4)Victoria Milovanova/Daria Shadchneva d. (1)Wen I Wan/Zhang Junhan (TPE/CHN) 6-4 3-6 [10-3]
Last week’s J100 Hong Kong saw local entries Jack Cheng and Christy Che fight all the way to the boys’ and girls’ singles semifinals respectively. Cheng, a wildcard, upset 2nd-seeded world No. 116 Hugh Winter (AUS) in the opening round 3-6 6-4 6-3 before he was halted by No. 4 seed Connor Church (CAN) in the semis. Meanwhile, Christy Che did well to topple No. 7 seed Rin Ito (JPN) 4-6 6-2 6-3 in the last eight before she exited at the hands of eventual champion Wang Tianme (USA).
Results
J100 Hong Kong
Victoria Park
October 23-28, 2023
Boys’ Singles
First Round
(WC)Jack Cheng (HKG) d. (2)Hugh Winter (AUS) 3-6 6-4 6-3
Second Round
(WC)Jack Cheng (HKG) d. Cahir Warik (IND) 6-3 6-4
Quarterfinals
(WC)Jack Cheng (HKG) d. Seo Hyeon Seok (KOR) 1-6 6-1 7-5
Semifinals
(4)Connor Church (CAN) d. (WC)Jack Cheng (HKG) 6-3 6-2
Girls’ Singles
First Round
Christy Che (HKG) d. Chen Yu-Hsi (TPE) 5-7 6-4 7-5
Second Round
Christy Che (HKG) d. Zhou Minxu (CHN) 6-3 6-3
Quarterfinals
Christy Che (HKG) d. (7)Rin Ito (JPN) 4-6 6-2 6-3
Semifinals
(3)Wang Tianme (USA) d. Christy Che (HKG) 6-1 6-2