Taiwanese-born American Phillip King made a triumphant return by winning the men's singles title at the Hong Kong Champions Cup at the Clearwater Bay Golf and Country Club yesterday.
The 27-year-old King defeated Wayne Wong Wing-lun 6-3, 6-1 to earn HK$57,000 prize money in Hong Kong's most lucrative tournament that carried a total purse of HK$270,000.
King, who was born in Taiwan but grew up in Long Beach, Los Angeles, was playing in his first Hong Kong tournament almost nine years after making a first-round exit as a teenager in the now-defunct Salem Open in 2000.
King was once ranked 280th in the world and was considered the top-ranked junior player in America when he last visited Hong Kong. He has beaten a few established US stars such as Mardy Fish.
'I was invited to compete in this tournament and it's really nice to come back and win this tournament. Hong Kong is one of the nicest places in this part of the world,' said wild-card entrant King.
An eight-man field took part in the singles tournament, which began as a round-robin competition. The event was open to the winners of Hong Kong's three 'grand slam' tournaments - the Chinese Recreation Club Open, the South China Open and the Hong Kong Tennis Championships (Nationals).
Eight teams took part in the doubles tournament, which was won by Brian Hung Lap-hei and Jonathan Chu Bo-shing, who defeated Sean Cooper and Jason Lijewski 6-2, 6-2.