‘Battle of the Pacific’ Tennis Tournament hits the court for a good cause

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The 2022 ‘Battle of the Pacific’ tennis tournament got going Sunday morning in Kailua.

Where some of the best players on the West Coast faced off for a good cause.

“That kind of represents everything that this should be about, great tennis and great family, growing the game.” Kailua Racquet Club director of tennis Jared Carstenn told Hawaii News Now.

What started as a friendly tennis match between a couple of friends has quickly turned into a showcase of some of the best collegiate and pro tennis players in the west.

A two-day tournament pitting team Hawaii against team California, a true celebration of the sport being held at the Kailua Racquet Club.

“The level of competition and the fact that it is a social fun invitational event, that combination is fantastic.” Carstenn said. “We are really kind of starved for awesome sporting events here in Hawaii and this is a rare opportunity to see high level tennis.”

Despite a lengthy weather delay, the two teams got things going with Team Cali being headlined by USC standout Eryn Cayetano, who recently finished her junior year with the trojans at the quarterfinals of the NCAA women’s singles tourney.

“It’s a huge honor and privilege and it’s my first time on the island, so I’m just very excited to be here.” Cayetano said.

While team Hawaii will once again be led by UH’s Andre Ilagan, who just wrapped up a historic season for the Rainbow Warriors.

“It feels nice, I mean just coming back and you know taking a break a little bit from the long season I had.” Ilagan said. “I think just having these people here is going to be cool and you know hopefully I can defend this friendly tournament and just have fun.”

Besides the friendly competition on the court, the participants are coming together to give back to the community, partnering with the Kokua Kalihi Valley foundation to help people get access to the game they all love.

“Providing them the resources to do something that otherwise they probably wouldn’t have that opportunity to do.” Co-Organizer Todd Rothbard said. “We’re happy to help financially, we’re trying to raise money by the selling of T-shirts, through the Bracketology contest and just the straight donations.”

“It’s just really special to see like tennis touch people in multiple different ways, especially like just help people grow as a person.” Cayetano said.

The tournament continues on Monday with the singles bracket.

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