POI‘PU — Lani Rae Green of Kekaha defeated Taylor Wardwell of Honolulu to capture top honors in the Girls’ 16 Singles division of the Kaua‘i Fall Jr. Open tennis tournament, which wrapped up Sunday at the Po‘ipu Kai Tennis Courts.
POI‘PU — Lani Rae Green of Kekaha defeated Taylor Wardwell of Honolulu to capture top honors in the Girls’ 16 Singles division of the Kaua‘i Fall Jr. Open tennis tournament, which wrapped up Sunday at the Po‘ipu Kai Tennis Courts.
She went on to team with Jericho Grollman of Lake Mary, Fla., to capture the Mixed 18 Doubles.
In the finals of the Girls 16 Singles, the top seeded Green went up against No. 2 seed Wardwell and defeated the Honolulu girl, 6-4, 6-2.
Green earlier defeated Jaylee Yasunaga 6-0, 7-6 in the semifinals to advance while Wardwell defeated Kaitlin Davidson of Kalaheo, Kaua‘i, 6-0, 6-0 in the semis to advance to the finals.
Kahalauamalunonalani Companion of Honolulu, eventual consolation champion of the division following a 6-2, 6-0 win over Lauren Jyo, was an early victim of Green, falling 0-6, 0-6 to the player from Kaua‘i’s Westside in the quarterfinals.
Similarly, Wardwell opened with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Davidson in the quarterfinals to advance to the semis, getting past Kelly Costello of O‘ahu to meet Green in the finals.
Green, a strong player for Waimea High School and the Kaua‘i Junior Tennis program, did not stop with the singles title, teaming with Jericho Grollman of Lake Mary, Florida, for the No. 2 seed in the Mixed 18 Doubles where the duo topped the team of Companion and Kulamau‘ukomohana Companion, 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 for the division title.
Wardwell teamed with Grant Zukeran of Kaneohe, O‘ahu, but dropped in the finals of the Mixed 16 Doubles, 6-2, 6-3, 0-1 to the duo of Ryan Chang and Jaylee Yasunaga.
Unseeded Grollman, getting the benefit of Dr. Thomas Grollman in the gallery, worked hard in the finals of the Boys 14 Singles division to get past No. 2 seed Jace Akagi-Okuma, 6-0, 2-6, 1-0 for the division title before advancing to team with Green for the Mixed 18 Doubles.
Top seed in the division, Seann Esaki was relegated to the consolation bracket, eventually taking the consolation finals, 6-4, 6-2 over No. 4 seed Rollin Odama-Wong.
Other winners in the two-day tournament included unseeded Gregory Zukeran defeating No. 2 seed Sage Leaman, 7-5, 6-3 for the Boys’ 18 Singles title, No. 2 seed Larry Magalasin defeating top seed Leyton Ramos, 6-4, 6-4 for the title of the Boys’ 12 Singles.
On the girls’ courts, No. 2 seeded Katreina Corpuz defeated top seeded Kayla Manz, 6-4, 6-3 for the title of the Girls’ 14 Singles, and top seeded Sara Tsukamoto defeated Kaheaokaleonahenahemaikalani Companion, 6-1, 6-0 for the title in the Girls’ 12 Singles division.
The top seeded duo of Ramos and Tsukamoto defeated Akagi-Okuma and Jyo, 6-4, 6-1 for the Mixed 14 Doubles and the pair of Caitlyn Arce and Shane Yee downed the duo of Anna Kalabukhova and Christian Schmidt of Koloa, 6-1, 4-2, the Kalabukhova/Schmidt retiring due to illness.
Visit www.tennislink.usta.com for full tournament results.
