TAIWANESE teenager Lu Yen-hsun engineered a great escape to win the Hong Kong Open Junior Tennis Championships at Victoria Park yesterday.
Lu saved two championship points as he made a stirring comeback to defeat Czech Michal Kokta 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5) in a gripping boys' singles final.
Lu was staring down the barrel of defeat when he trailed Kokta 4-5 in the second set after 70 minutes of hard toil. The end seemed near as Lu faced Kokta - serving for the title - knowing that he had yet to threaten his opponent's service game.
But Lu managed to dig deep as he began his grand fightback. He took Kokta to deuce, for the first time in the match, and a flashing forehand down the line saw him earn his first break point.
Nerves saw this chance wasted. It was then Kokta's turn in the box seat. The Czech, who had dominated from the baseline, however, failed to convert two match points which would have boosted his current ranking of 104 on the ITF junior circuit.
Lu, ranked 50, seized the opportunity and a cross-court forehand saw him break Kokta to level at 5-5. That was the turning point as a tiring Kokta looked deflated.