Week 1
In the opener of the boys’ singles final, the score was even at 2-2 when No. 1 seed Dasson Chan went on a 4-game run, breaking Eren Cheung twice along the way, to take possession of the set, 6-2. Set 2 was a complete turnaround, as Cheung never faced a break point on his own serve, while he was able to capitalise on 3 of the 4 break serve opportunities, to snatch it, 6-0. The momentum swung back to the top seed in the third, as he broke early in the second game and held firm to go up 3-0. Then, at 5-2, with Cheung needing to hold serve to stay in the match, Chan seized on his second break point opportunity of this set to break again. Game, set, and match, 6-2, 0-6, 6-2.
Dasson Chan: “I’m happy that I won the tournament. Due to the bad weather last week, many matches were cancelled so that the format of every match was changed to short sets except final. I’m glad that I can manage it well as this situation does not appear many times. I hope I can do well again in the second week.”
Previously, at the Hong Kong National Junior Tennis Championships, Eren Cheung had won the under-16 boys’ singles in 2021, under-12 boys’ singles in 2018 and the under-10 boys’ singles in 2016, while Dasson Chan was the under-16 boys’ champion in 2020.
In the girls’ final, Yandy Shek jumped out to 3-0 and 4-1 leads before Che managed to break back to claw her way back to 4-3. However, a late break in the eleventh game was enough for Shek take the opener, 6-3. First game of the second set, Che fought hands and heels to save 5 break points before holding serve to lead 1-0. At 2-2, however, Che uncharacteristically threw down three untimely double faults to lose serve tamely, with Shek now leading 3-2. However, Che broke back twice in a row and grabbed the next three games for a 5-3 lead. Although she was unable to serve it out and let Shek peg the score back to 5-4, Che managed to break her opponent to love to even at a set apiece, 6-4. In the third set, games went with serve until 2-2 when Shek finally broke through to lead 3-2. Yet from this point on, Che only lost 2 points on serve and broke her opponent twice in succession, as the No. 3 seed took the next four games in a row to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, to capture her maiden ITF World Tennis Tour Junior title.
“It feels great to win my first ITF title, definitely gained a lot of experience. Last weeks’ runner-up at the HK Nationals wasn’t any added pressure, but rather, given me confidence and conviction. She’s a tough opponent, so I just tried to focus on not having any mental letdowns and kept fighting till the end,” said Christy Che.
In 2015, Shek defeated Chloris Li in the under-10 girls’ singles final to win the Hong Kong National Junior Tennis Championships. In 2016 and 2017, she partnered Chloris Li to win back-to-back under-12 girls’ doubles titles. Then in 2018, Shek was a runner-up in the under-14 girls’ singles to Candy Wai and partnered Chloris Li again to capture the under-14 girls’ doubles.
In the girls’ doubles final between No. 1 seed Vienna Lai and Hannah Shen and 4th seed Lam Yuen Tung and Athena Yeung, servers dominated the first six games until 3-3, when Lam and Yeung broke Vienna Lai to go up 4-3. However, they were unable to consolidate the break, as the top-seeded duo returned the favour immediately by breaking Lam’s serve to bring matters to 4-4. Hannah Shen then faced 15-40 on her serve and even though she managed to save the first break point, Lam and Yeung took advantage of the second one to break again to go up 5-4. Yeung then held her third service game to conclude the opener, 6-4. The No. 1 seed then found a higher gear and went on a 5-game run to start the second before finishing it off 6-1, having lost just six points on serve in this set. After Yeung held serve to start the third set super-tiebreak, Lai and Shen ran off with the next ten points to finalise a 4-6, 6-1, [10-1] victory.
In the boys’ doubles final, Dasson Chan and Ethan Leung teamed up to beat Alan Wang and Bosco Lee in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3.
Week 2
After No. 2 seed Jacob Shen held serve to begin the boys’ singles final, top seed Dasson Chan immediately knuckled down to gain the early momentum by breaking twice to go up 5-1 before eventually grabbing the opening set, 6-2. In the second set, the two players exchanged a pair of early breaks when Shen broke through again in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead. However, Shen was unable to serve it out, as Chan broke him to 15 and then engineered a love hold to force a 5-5 impasse. The momentum was seemingly swinging the opposite way when Shen threw down a double fault to start his next service game, but to his credit, he held on and then broke the top seed to love to snatch the set, 7-5. In the third, Chan was always ahead on his own service games and broke Shen twice to jump out to a 5-2 lead before he lost serve to allow the No. 2 seed back in with a chance. Chan did well to produce an immediate response to break again for the set and the match, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, in two hours and forty minutes of play.
“I felt I had a faster start to the match and held an upper hand with my serves. Second set, he switched it up and attacked down the line much earlier in the rallies and he was landing in a lot more of his first serves, which gave me less opportunities to initiate the offense. Third set, I just tried to stay solid on my serves, use more wide-angled shots to keep him honest, and be more aggressive by coming in on his second serves, which worked out in the end,” said Chan.
Chan and Shen are both competing in the J5 Singapore ITF Junior Championships (V) and the J4 Singapore ITF Junior Championships (VI) in the coming two weeks.
The first and second sets of the girls’ singles final unfolded much the same way with the players exchanging a pair of early breaks before getting back even on serve. With No. 1 seed Vienna Lai holding a slender 4-3 lead, fourth-seeded Rosalyn Chan managed to wrestle the final three games of both sets to come away with a 6-4, 6-4, victory to capture her career first ITF World Tennis Tour Junior singles title. Chan, at the Hong Kong National Junior Tennis Championships, had previously won the under-10 title in 2018, the under-12 in 2020, and this year both the under-14 and under-16 titles. In 2021, she also captured the CRC Open under-14 girls’ singles.
The girls’ doubles final saw 2nd seed Vienna Lai and Rosalyn Chan jump out to an early break lead only to be pegged back to 3-3 by third-seeded Jane Wong and Cherry Wong. However, Lai and Chan were able to establish a stronger finish by breaking in the penultimate game and winning the last three games in the process to take the opener, 6-3. In the ensuing set, Lai and Chan were up double break 5-1 but saw their opponents fight back to 5-3 before Chan held firm to take title in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.
In the boys’ doubles final, top-seeded Dasson/Ethan Leung defeated No. 2 seed Eren Cheung/Jacob Shen 6-2, 3-6, [10-7].
Results
Hong Kong ITF Grade 5 Junior Tournament (Week 1)
Victoria Park Tennis Courts
August 8-13, 2022
Boys’ Singles
First Round
(1)Dasson Chan d. Walter Tam 6-2 6-2
Second Round
(1)Dasson Chan d. Wong Tat 4-0 4-1
Quarterfinals
(1)Dasson Chan d. Howard Chan 4-0 4-0
Semifinals
(1)Dasson Chan d. Jonah Gethin 5-3 4-1
Final
(1)Dasson Chan d. (8)Eren Cheung 6-2 0-6 6-2
Girls’ Singles
First Round
(3)Christy Che d. Chloe Wong 6-0 6-0
Second Round
(3)Christy Che d. Leung Tsz Yau 4-0 4-0
Quarterfinals
(3)Christy Che d. (6)Butter Cheung 4-0 4-1
Semifinals
(3)Christy Che d. (2)Vienna Lai 5-4(7) 4-0
Final
(3)Christy Che d. Yandy Shek 3-6 6-4 6-3
Full Results: https://bit.ly/3wCsCWr
Results
Hong Kong ITF Grade 5 Junior Tournament (Week 2)
Victoria Park Tennis Courts
August 15-20, 2022
Boys’ Singles
First Round
(1)Dasson Chan d. Nicholas Cheng 6-0 6-4
Second Round
(1)Dasson Chan d. Walter Tam 6-1 6-2
Quarterfinals
(1)Dasson Chan d. Jacker Cheung 6-1 6-3
Semifinals
(1)Dasson Chan d. (4)Antonio Lee 6-3 6-2
Final
(1)Dasson Chan d. (2)Jacob Shen 6-2 5-7 6-3
Girls’ Singles
First Round
(4)Rosalyn Chan d. Lam Yuen Tung 6-1 6-1
Second Round
(4)Rosalyn Chan d. Leung Nga Lam 6-0 6-0
Quarterfinals
(4)Rosalyn Chan d. Rachel Kan 6-0 6-1
Semifinals
(4)Rosalyn Chan d. Yandy Shek 6-4 4-6 7-5
Final
(4)Rosalyn Chan d. (1)Vienna Lai 6-4 6-4
Full Results: https://bit.ly/3pAuV8p