Tahiti’s Heimanarii Lai San gathers for the back hand return during a tennis match at the 2023 Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands.
HEIMANARII Lai San of Tahiti defeated La Hunn Lam of the NMI in two sets to win the men’s singles title of the 2024 Bridge Capital Tennis Classic at American Memorial Park on Sunday.
In the quarterfinals, the visiting Tahiti national player faced the NMI’s June Yu, and his performance was simply unmatched as he dominated both sets. On offense, he played aggressively with constant pressure and forced his opponent to commit errors. With Lai San’s quick reaction time and smart placements on the defensive end, Yu could only win two games before his opponent clinched the first set, 6-2.
The second set only solidified Lai San’s dominance as he tweaked his overall game and left Yu with barely any room to breathe en route to a 6-1 victory.
Lai San then advanced to the semifinal round against the NMI’s national player, Colin Ramsey, who routed Henry Choi in the quarterfinals, 6-1, 6-0.
The first set of the semifinal match was filled with a series of exchanges, but as the dust settled, it was Lai San who reigned supreme with a 7-5 victory.
In the second set, Lai San controlled most of the possession. Although Ramsey stood his ground throughout most of the back-and-forth battle, he just could not break his opponent’s rhythm and had to accept defeat, 4-6.
For his part, the NMI’s La Hunn Lam bagged his first win by outlasting David Kwon in a three-set match, 4-6, 6-0, 10-6. Lam then beat Tomas Abel, 6-1, 6-0 in the semifinals to secure his spot in the finals.
Lai San and Lam gave it their all in the first set of their title match, but Lai San eventually triumphed, 7-5, to claim the first set.
Lam fought back in the second set, but was forced to retire midway with Lai San leading 4-2.
In the battle for third place, Ramsey bested Tomas Abel in three sets, 6-3, 4-6, 10-5.
Also joining the podium were Paul Jang, who edged Brian Wessel, 6-4, 7-5, to win the men’s singles 40 event; and Mae Kim who claimed the women’s singles 35 by trouncing Ming Pascual, 6-1, 6-0, and Thu Tran, 6-0, 6-0.
