Special from
Zoo Tennis
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PLANTATION, Fla. - The weather was ideal for last week's 76th annual Orange Bowl Championships, allowing players, coaches and fans to concentrate on the hundreds of matches contested in the prestigious event at the Veltri Tennis Center.
Boys Singles Champion Naoya Honda
© Zoo Tennis
The 16s championships were claimed by Californian Alexis Nguyen, the fifth consecutive girls winner from the United States, and Japan's Naoya Honda, who became the first boy from his country to capture an Orange Bowl singles title.
The fifth-seeded Honda encountered his biggest challenge in the quarterfinals, needing three sets to subdue qualifier Enzo Kohlmann de Freitas of Brazil, who had defeated Eddie Herr 16s champion Maxwell Exsted in the second round, before cruising past No. 13 seed Prathinav Chunduru of the US 6-0, 6-1 in the semifinals.
Awaiting Honda in the final was unseeded wild card Matthew Forbes, who dropped his only set en route to the final in the opening round. Forbes played outstanding tennis throughout his 7-5, 6-0 semifinal victory over No. 7 seed Miguel Tobon of Colombia, the third seed he had eliminated. But it was Honda who prevailed in the championship match by a 6-3, 6-4 score.
