Lee, Ukrainian capture Lancer jr tennis plums

Lee Hsin-han of Chinese Taipei and Khrystyna Antoniychuk of Ukraine posted contrasting victories to rule their respective divisions in the 17th Mitsubishi Lancer ITF Junior Circuit at the Rizal Tennis Center yesterday.

The third seed Lee rallied from 2-4 down in the deciding third set to pull the rug from under second pick Sho Aida of Japan, 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-4, and clinch the boys’ crown. He also won 150 ITF ranking points.

On the other hand, the 15-year-old Antoniychuk, whose powerful strokes complement her stunning looks, had an easier time against top seed Sacha Jones of Australia, 6-2, 6-4, to capture the girls’ title.

It was Antoniychuk’s second straight victory following her triumph in another Group 1 event in Bangkok, Thailand last week where she also dominated Jones, ranked 32nd by the ITF in the world, 6-3, 6-2, in the semis. She went on to beat Nicola Hofmanova of Austria, 6-3, 6-1, for the crown.

Lee’s win also avenged unseeded compatriot and doubles partner Peng Hsien-Yin’s 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 semifinal loss to Aida.

Late Saturday, Antoniychuk and Lee also took the doubles plums in their respective divisions.

Antoniychuk teamed up with Hofmanova in downing the Chinese duo of Zhou Yi Miao and Guo Xuan Yu, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-1, for the girls’ doubles plum while Lee partnered with Peng in beating Japan’s Aida and Fumiaki Kita, 6-2, 7-6 (7), for the boys’ doubles title.

Unlike Antoniychuk’s surprisingly easy win that lasted just an hour and 40 minutes, Lee had to struggle for nearly three hours where he had to rally twice, first in the first set and the other in the decider.

Down 3-5, Lee fought back to force a tiebreak he handily won to take the opening frame.

Aida, an 18-year-old Kanagawa native, raced to a 3-0 start in the second with his fierce baseline play, only to drop five of the next seven games that enabled Lee to knot the count at 5-all. He then unleashed crisp winners to the take the last two points and the set.

With Lee looking tired in the third set, Aida took command again by grabbing a 4-2 lead. But after Lee initiated long rallies, the Japanese simply faltered, dropping the next four games.

"I got tired in the second set and the early part of the third set because of the heat," said Lee. "But I engaged him in long rallies and it tired him too."