Serb cops singles crown over Aussie

MANILA, Philippines - Top seed Nikola Milojevic of Serbia checked a second set meltdown and hacked out a 6-0, 7-5 victory over Australian No. 11 Jordan Thompson to capture the boys’ singles crown in the 23rd Mitsubishi International Junior Championships at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center yesterday.

Storm Sanders, who barely made it to the main draw after surviving the grueling qualifiers, rallied from a set down to beat No. 4 Anna Tyulpa of Russia, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, and clinch the girls’ diadem.

Milojevic, who ended Filipino Jurence Mendoza’s title bid in the semis, stormed to 4-0 in the second, but the rigors of playing three tournaments in a row took their toll on him, enabling Thompson to claw his way back and force a 5-5 count.

“I was playing with low energy during that stretch in the second set because I’ve been playing unbelievable tennis these past three weeks,” said Milojevic, who hasn’t conceded a single set in his last 10 games. “But I drew what energy and strength that are in my reserves and gave it all to win that last two games and I’m just so glad and relieved I won.

“I’m so physically and mentally drained right now that I’m going home to take five weeks of rest,” added Milojevic, whose coach Dejan Petrovic once trained world No. 1 Novak Djokovic when he was still a junior.

Sanders’ victory also capped her remarkable run in the event as she toppled top seed and World No. 9 Elizaveta Kulichkova of Russia, No. 11 Oleksandra Korashvili of Ukraine, No. 8 Nao Hibino of Japan and now Tyulpa en route to the championship.

“This is my first and last juniors tournament and visit here in the Philippines so I just gave it all,” said the 17-year-old Sanders, a native of Perth in West Australia. “I’m joining some seniors tournaments in Europe after a two-week rest.”