By Roselyn B. Monroyo
Variety News Staff

JUNIOR player Ji Hoon Heo will lead the NMI’s campaign in the 4th Guam International Tennis Open Championship at the Hilton Guam Resort &Spa tennis courts.
Heo will debut in the annual tournament today, while former junior players Nicolas and Daniel Son, who participated in in the Guam Open last year, will also play their first round matches today.
Of the three NMI bets, only Daniel Son will be facing a seeded opponent, as he will be up against No. 5 pick Hiroyasu Sato of Japan.
Heo’s foe will be the U.S.’s Daniel N. Llarenas, while Nicolas’s first-round opponent is South Korea’s Hyung Chan Lim.
Heo and the Son siblings will also play in the men’s Open doubles.
The three-day tournament will be a good workout for Heo, who will be leading the NMI junior team in the North Pacific Qualifying Tournament.
The NPQ will be held on Saipan with the NMI hosting junior netters from FSM, Guam and Palau.
Joining Heo on the team are Russell Buenaventura, Benjie Decena, James Camacho, Mayuko Arriola, Jessica Soll and Lila Mailman in the 18-and-under division and Joe Motto, Jr., Rafael Jones, Christian Miller, Clay McCullough-Stearns, Thea and Theecel Minor, Melody Johnson and Michaela Grandinetti in the 13-and-under division.
The NPQ will run from June 11 to 15.
Meanwhile, the NMI’s Vivian Lee is also playing in the singles event and will be challenging women’s No. 4 seed Sakiko Namba of Japan.
This year’s defending champion in the men’s and women’s Open singles are the Philippines’ Johnny Arcilla and Czarina Arevalo.
The Guam Open will feature 36 international and world-ranked players from Japan, South Korea, the U.S and Vietnam. The host country is fielding10 local players in the tournament.
The champion in the men’s Open singles will receive $2,000, while the runnerup will take home $1,200. The doubles champions will get $750 each, while the runnersup will receive $350 each.
The top purse in the women’s Open singles is $1,200, while the runnerup will receive $850. Doubles and mixed champions will get $500 each and runnersup will went home with $300 each.
Semifinalists in the men’s and women’s Open singles will get $750 and $350 each.