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By Patrick Lujan

18-year-old Japanese Soichiro Moritani pulls off the first round win over Dominik Hrbaty. (photo by Jesse Castro)
He knew his best tennis is behind him and showed in his first match of the 2013 Lacoste/GVB Futures Tennis Tournament.
35-year-old Dominik Hrbaty, once ranked as high as No. 12 in the world and played against some of the best players of all-time, was slow on his feet and committed too many unforced errors under the hot sun at the Hilton Tennis Courts, losing 6-2, 6-4 to 18-year-old Soichiro Moritani Monday afternoon.
Hrbaty opened the match with a double fault. It was a sign of things to come as the Japanese youngster kept volleys alive and waited for the veteran to make costly mistakes.
“I’m so happy,” Moritani said through an interpreter. “Not only did I beat Dominik, I also get some (ATP) points.”
Under scorching 91-degree conditions, the opening match pitted the veteran finishing up his prolific career with more than $7 million of prize money going up against the youngster who just turned pro in April from Tokyo, Japan playing in only his sixth pro match.
Moritani matched Hrbaty stroke-for-stroke, breaking the Slovakian on several occasions to easily take the first set.
“When the draw was released and I saw I was going to play Hrbaty, I felt I needed to make sure I covered all shots on court and wait for his errors in order to win,” Moritani added.
Hrbaty held serve early in the second set to take a 2-1 lead before more unforced errors led to another break in serve. In fact, three unforced errors by Hrbaty and a service return winner has Moritani jump out to a 4-2 advantage.
It was only a matter of time as the Japanese appropriately ended the match with an ace down the line to end it.
“I wasn’t aiming,” Moritani said about the match-ending ace. “I just swung and prepared for a return.”
Right before this match, the tournament had an opening ceremony with the U.S. Navy Color Guard and Guam’s First Lady Christine Calvo in attendance. Hrbaty gave some opening remarks along with tournament director Torgun Smith.
Two Guam Entries
Only two players are entered from Guam: Daniel Llarenas and 16-year-old Joshua Cepeda. Cepeda fell to Neishit Vakil from India 6-3, 6-2.
Action continues all week with the singles and doubles finals set for Sunday. There are a total of 34 international competitors in the tournament.
PHOTO GALLERY BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

The U.S. Navy Color Guard presents the colors during the opening ceremonies of the tournament Monday morning. (photo by Jesse Castro)
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GPS Sports Calendar
February 2023
- SU
- MO
- TU
- WE
- TH
- FR
- SA
Events for January
1st
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
2nd
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
Events for February
3rd
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
TRITONS BASEBALL INVITATIONAL PLAYOFFS
Events for February
4th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Events for February
6th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
7th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
8th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
9th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
Events for February
10th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
TRITONS BASEBALL INVITATIONAL FINALS
Events for February
12th
MONSTER ENERGY MOTOCROSS ROUND 2
Events for February
13th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
14th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
15th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
Events for February
16th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
Events for February
17th
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
Events for February
18th
BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2K/5K
World Athletics Cross Country Championships
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
Events for February
20th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
21st
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
22nd
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
23rd
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
Events for February
24th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL QUARTERFINALS
Events for February
24th
Events for February
25th
Events for February
27th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER SEMIFINALS
Events for February
28th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL FINALS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE SEMIFINALS
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS

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