ITF

Colombian Nicolas Mejia during the annual trip to the Chengdu panda base, progressed to the last four and overcame the impressive Clara Tauson in three sets. Tauson was the youngest player in the girls' draw and looked a good bet to emulate the exploits of Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk and become the second successive 15-year-old to be crowned girls' champion. The Dane progressed from Group Li with an unblemished record, having beaten Liang, Wang Xinyu – who also withdrew from the tournament through injury – and Leylah Fernandez. After defeat to Osorio Serrano, Tauson once again tamed Liang to finish third. Aside from during the girls' semifinal, the elements had been kind and rain had largely stayed away, although lightning did strike twice in the boys' draw as for the second year running a major surprise unfolded. In 2017, the lowest-ranked player, Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland, navigated the field to gatecrash the winners' party. Twelve months on and American Brandon Nakashima was the name on everybody's lips come the end of the week. Nakashima was the lowest-ranked automatic qualifier – China's Mu Tao was handed a wildcard – but refused to stand on ceremony and concluded proceedings with a stunning victory over two-time Grand Slam winner and hot favourite Tseng Chun Hsin. "It feels great. I'm so proud of the way I played," said Nakashima. "It's been a long week with a lot of great players and I am so happy to come out on top. It's definitely the highlight of my year." The San Diego-born right-hander signalled his intentions by beating Hugo Gaston, who was fresh from winning gold at the Youth Olympic Games, in his first encounter, and proved an awkward and resilient opponent all week. Nakashima lost his second match to world No3 Sebastian Baez but fought back from a set down against Lorenzo Musetti of Italy to reach the semifinals, where he overpowered Adrian Andreev to secure a shot at the title. Tseng had progressed from Group Shuai with a perfect record of three wins from as many matches, and was idolised by a partisan crowd after defeating the improving Gaston in the semifinals. Clearly not a huge respecter of reputations, the phlegmatic Nakashima was clinical and scintillating in equal measure during the final, defeating Tseng 62 61 and rising eight places to world No. 5 in the process. Burel and Nakashima both scooped the $15,000 travel grants on offer for the tournament winners, although all the stars of tomorrow on show received a grant, starting at $7,000 depending on their finishing position. ■ ITFWorld // WINTER 2018 31 Clara Tauson was the youngest competitor but finished third in the girls' draw Players pose for a selfie in their traditional Chinese outfits at the draw ceremony Maria Camila Osorio Serrano and Nicolas Mejia donned inflatable panda costumes

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