Working The Doubles Magic, Again

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Men’s Night Doubles Tournament two-time defending champion Wei-Yu Su. Photo by Byron Lee, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Kailua Racquet Club’s Blue Moon Men’s Night Doubles Tournament has never needed a lobbyist, but if it did, Wei-Yu Su might qualify.

“I think it’s the best tennis tournament on the Island,” said Su, the event’s two-time defending champion (along with partner Minh Le) and formerly ranked No. 1 in the nation as a doubles player when at BYU-Hawaii. “Tennis-wise, it’s the only tournament I’ve played in during the past two years.”

Atmosphere alone would normally make the tournament a success, given the backdrop the racquet club provides. In recent years it has showcased some of the top current and former college players with Hawaii ties, and few of those are more decorated than Su, who ranked No. 1 in his native Taiwan even before enrolling at BYUH in 1995. He and Minh Le enter the tournament (July 20-Aug. 2) as the likely top seeds. Last year, they defeated Jan Axel Tribler and Mikael Maatta to become the first repeat winners since Ryan Ideta and Alex Sugai won the 1998 and ‘99 titles, splitting the $2,700 first prize.

What makes their mastery all the more impressive is the limited time they practice together. While Le’s tournament schedule is far more active than Su’s these days, he is based out of Japan and stays in Hawaii usually long enough to play the Kailua tournament.

“He’s a great player,” Su said of Le, a former player at UC-Berkeley. “It’s easy for us to cover each other, and we get along. He’s very fast at the net, and he’s a great competitor and a fighter. He’s an easy personality to be with on and off of the court. The first time we played together, we won a championship, and we haven’t lost since.

“We had known each other for 10 years - we used to tour together - and a (mutual) friend asked me if I’d like to play with him. I hadn’t seen him in eight years until we played together (in the 2006 Men’s Night Doubles Tournament).”

Su will make his ninth straight appearance in the Men’s Nights Doubles Tournament and has won eight straight matches over the past two years at the event with Le as his partner. He currently works at Punahou as an engineer in the Information Technology Department, having held a similar position at Aloha Airlines before the company folded. He remains active in tennis as a private coach, and recently tutored prep girls singles state champion Kristen Lim (Punahou), among several others. He had also worked for several years at BYUH as an assistant coach.

Having resolved to defend his title once again, Su figures to fine-tune his own games in the coming weeks.

“I’ll probably need to do some workouts to get ready for that,” he admitted.

Su had considered turning pro upon graduating from high school, but the prospect of an education in the United States led him to Laie. “It’s a great campus and a great school,” he said of BYUH. “The language was one of the tough things at first. I like the lifestyle of Hawaii, and the people are very friendly here. Taiwan is a big city, but it’s also like an island.

“I’ve always wanted to do well in tennis since I began at 8-anda-half,” he added. “No one in my family had played, although my little sister plays for fun now. My reason for wanting to do well was for my school team (Chenco High School). I fell in love with the sport and kept on playing and competing. I like the competitive nature of the sport. It’s not just a physical game. You need to be strong mentally and be able to think quickly. Physically, you have to be strong. It’s a very challenging sport.”

While he and Le have been able to win the event the past two years, Su has also soaked up the fan-friendly atmosphere.

“There’s a lot of support from the community and the club, and a lot of fans come by to watch. You don’t usually see that many fans at a tournament, and the food and music provide a good environment.”