Queen of the court misplaces her crown
Teenager Tong Ka-po's reign as queen of Hong Kong tennis came to an abrupt end when she lost to talented Frenchwoman Olivia Gravereaux in the final of the Furama Hong Kong National Championships at Victoria Park.
Ka-po, who has dominated local tennis for at least two years, winning last year's South China Open and Chinese Recreation Club titles, was given a lesson by Olivia, who won 6-4, 6-4.
Not much had been heard from Gravereaux except that she had played in some high- quality tournaments in France.
Ka-po, 18, was aiming for a hat-trick of titles but admitted she was outplayed by Gravereaux.
'I had my chances to win but she was a little bit too strong for me,' Ka-po said.
Ka-po was troubled once in her run towards the final.
She first made short work of Wong Sin-yi, winning 6-2, 6-1, before thrashing Lam Po-kuen 6-3, 6-2.
She needed three sets before disposing of Lilian Lin Ling 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 in the semi- finals.
Olivia, meanwhile, had an impressive run to the final.
She recorded a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Maggie Lin in the first round.
This was followed by a 6- 2, 6-0 triumph over Cindy Hay, before Olivia pulled out the stops to thrash Karen Fisher, 6-0, 6-0 in the semi- finals.
Shane Barr also had his two-year reign as the SAR's most dominant player tarnished when he lost to fellow Australian Andrew Town in the final of the same tournament.
