ANSEONG, South Korea – Illinois men's tennis' rising senior Karlis Ozolins and rising junior Kenta Miyoshi both took home some hardware at ITF M15 Anseong, with Miyoshi winning the men's doubles title on Saturday and Ozolins taking home the men's singles crown on Sunday.
Miyoshi's victory marked the first professional tournament win of his career, while Ozolins secured his first-ever professional singles title.
Miyoshi and his doubles partner, Edward Winter, dropped only one set en route to the tournament win, while Ozolins won in straight sets in both the semifinals and finals to clinch the event victory.
After defeating Yeonsu Jeong and Jangjun Kim in the first round, 6-2, 6-2, Miyoshi and Winter took down the top seed in the event, Yeongseok Jeong and Minkyu Song, in the quarterfinals. Securing a straight-set victory, 6-3, 7-5, Miyoshi and Winter booked their place among the final four teams in the competition.
In the semifinals, Miyoshi and Winter held a 2-1 advantage in the opening set before their opponents, Min Seong Kim and Minjong Park, were forced to retire, sending Miyoshi and Winter through to the finals.
Taking on the tournament's No. 4 seed, Ethan Cook and Naoki Tajima, in the final round of doubles action, Miyoshi and Winter won the opening set, 6-3, before falling in the second frame, 7-5. The match came down to a winner-take-all third set, in which Miyoshi and Winter took a 5-2 lead before Cook and Tajima battled back to cut the score to 5-4. Winning five of the next seven points, Miyoshi and Winter closed out the three-set thriller, 10-6, to give Miyoshi the first professional title of his career.
Ozolins began his singles run with a 6-1, 6-2 victory in the opening round before defeating No. 8-seeded Winter, who Ozolins had lost to last week, in three sets, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
Needing three sets in the quarterfinals to get past Masamichi Imamura, 6-1, 6-7(6), 6-3, Ozolins cruised through to the finals with a 6-3, 6-2 decision over Chase Ferguson.
In the finals, Ozolins squared off with the tournament's top seed, Sanhui Shin, who entered the competition ranked over 600 places ahead of the Illini senior in the ATP rankings. Ozolins jumped out to a 3-0 advantage in the opening frame, though Shin battled back to even the set at 4-4. Though Ozolins held leads of 5-4 and 6-5, the opening set went into a tiebreaker, in which the Latvia native got out to a 4-1 edge. Closing out the set, Ozolins clinched a 7-6(4) decision to take the first frame.
Carrying the momentum into the second set, Ozolins quickly took care of business, clinching an emphatic 6-0 result in the frame to secure the victory.
Miyoshi also took part in singles while in Anseong-si, though his run came to an end in the quarterfinals. Last week, he competed in Guam, advancing to the quarterfinals at ITF M15 Harmon. The Kawasaki, Japan, native earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors during his sophomore season in 2024, leading the Illini with 27 singles wins. Miyoshi also collected Academic All-Big Ten and Academic CSC All-District distinction in his second year with the Fighting Illini.
Ozolins advanced to the semifinals of doubles play in Anseong while competing with Illini assistant coach Zeke Clark. Last week, Ozolins competed in Daegu, where he came up short in the semifinals of both singles and doubles action. An All-Big Ten First Team selection and two-time All-American during the 2024 season, Ozolins will compete in Changwon, South Korea, this week.
RESULTS
First round: Ozolins def. Jun Ha Hyun, 6-1, 6-2
Second round: Ozolins def. [8] Edward Winter, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
Quarterfinals: Ozolins def. Masamichi Imamura, 6-1, 6-7(6), 6-3
Semifinals: Ozolins def. Chase Ferguson, 6-3, 6-2
Finals: Ozolins def. [1] Sanhui Shin, 7-6(4), 6-0
First round: Miyoshi/Winter def. Yeonsu Jeong/Jangjun Kim, 6-2, 6-2
Quarterfinals: Miyoshi/Winter def. [1] Yeongseok Jeong/Minkyu Song, 6-3, 7-5
Semifinals: Miyoshi/Winter def. Min Seong Kim/Minjong Park, 2-1 ret.
Finals: Miyoshi/Winter def. [4] Ethan Cook/Naoki Tajima, 6-3, 5-7, 10-6
