By jean malanum
TAIWANESE LEE Hsin Han won his fourth consecutive singles title while Ukraine’s Khrystyna Antoniychuk bagged her second straight as they completed a sweep of the 17th Mitsubishi Lancer International Junior Championship yesterday at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
Playing in his last year in the juniors, the 18-year-old Lee capitalized on his huge forehand to claim the boys’ singles title over second seed Sho Aida of Japan, 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-4.
It was Lee’s fourth singles title after winning three events in Bangladesh early this year and eighth overall.
"It’s a tough match. The weather’s hot and I can’t breathe," said the world No. 17 Lee, who beat Aida for the second time since their quarterfinal encounter in last year’s Japan Open Juniors.
"I want to win as many tournaments as I can because this is my last year in the juniors. I’m glad to finally win this tournament," said Lee, a high school senior from Tainan City. He lost in the qualifying round two years ago and was eliminated in the quarters last year.
Lee rallied from 3-5 to win the first set before Aida, runner-up in the Genting ITF Juniors in Malaysia two weeks ago, shifted from baseline to net play to take the second set.
Aida, who played in the French, Wimbledon and US Open Juniors last year, led 4-2 in the third set but the Taiwanese regained his form and won the next four games and the title after two hours and 55 minutes.
"I had my chance but I missed. Lee played good today," said the Tokyo-based Aida, who reached the third round of this year’s Australian Open Juniors.
Lee, a former member of the Junior Davis Cup team, and compatriot Peng Hsien Yin defeated Aida and Fumiaki Kita, 6-2, 7-6 (7) to claim the boys’ doubles title in this Group 1 event supported by Wilson balls, Accel and Traders Hotel.
The second-seeded Antoniychuk, meanwhile, banked on her solid baseline game to topple top seed and world No. 32 Sacha Jones of New Zealand, 6-2, 6-4.
"I’m so happy to win. Jones is very good, playing against her is very difficult," said the 15-year-old Antoniychuk, who is now 2-1 against Jones. She beat the New Zealander in the semis, 6-3, 6-2, enroute to the Bangkok title last week while Jones defeated her in the finals, 6-3, 6-2, in Genting, Malaysia.
Antoniychuk, Ukraine’s top junior, teamed up with Austrian Nikola Hofmanova to win the girls’ doubles title over unranked Chinese pair Zhou Yu Miao and Guo Xuan Yu, 6-4. 6-7 (4), 6-1.
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