Slovenian, Taiwanese cop crown

Luka Gregorc of Slovenia and Hsieh Su-Wei of Chinese Taipei pulled off contrasting victories yesterday to top their respective divisions in the 12th Mitsubishi Lancer International Juniors Tennis Championship.

Riding the crest of his straight sets victory over second seed Prakash Amritraj of the United States in Friday’s semifinals, the power-hitting Gregorc, 17, survived sweltering heat at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center as he turned back Clinton Letcher of Australia, 6-4, 6-3.

Gregorc, whose elder brother Mika topped the 1996 edition of this annual event, displayed power and tenacity in defeating Letcher, a 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 semifinal winner over top seed Jonathan Chu of the US, in 50 minutes of power tennis.

No. 2 pick Hsieh, 15, on the other hand, copped the girls’ crown after outlasting top seed and defending champion Angelique Widjaja of Indonesia, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-1, with a methodical display of solid baseline game.

Short in height but not in power, Hsieh, ranked 28th in the world juniors, proved herself a class of her own as she outplayed the 16-year-old Widjaja in the deciding set to clinch the win. — Joey Villar