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