WAIPAHU — While the top seeds from across the country — and Canada — beat up on each other the final rounds of the USTA 18 National Open Tennis Championships at Patsy T. Mink Central O'ahu Regional Park, there was a rare sighting yesterday on Court 14.

Punahou senior Kristin Lim was still playing, on the final day, in a consolation semifinal. The last time a Hawai'i junior stuck around until finals day was 2004, when 15-year-old Dennis Lajola, now a University of Hawai'i sophomore, took third.

Lim will return to the scene of her primetime success in May when she goes for her fourth state high school championship (third in singles). Until then, she and the other seniors who invaded CORP the past five days will continue to tune up for college, while younger players showcase their games.

Lim will enroll at Cornell in August. Taylor Davis, who won the girls championship over top-seeded BrettEllen Keeler, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1, is heading to Cal.

Both boys finalists at the "18 Nationals" are 16. Fourth-seeded Clay Thompson, from Venice, Calif., stopped unseeded Evan Song's streak of upsets with a 6-4, 6-4 win. Song, from Henderson, Nev., took out the second and third seeds, while Thompson outlasted top-seeded Walker Kehrer, his Southern California "neighbor," in three sets Tuesday. Kehrer, ranked ninth nationally, is going to Stanford.

Thompson's first trip to Hawai'i produced his first national 18's title on an ideal final day, which helped make up for the opening day deluge. It was Davis' third trip to this tournament, and also her first national 18's title — and first of any kind at this level in three years. The 17-year-old from San Jose got it despite blowing a 5-1 lead in the first set to the country's 30th-ranked junior.

Davis' newfound patience was rewarded, as was the warmth she has developed for Hawai'i the past three years. She has African-American, Filipino and Dutch blood and feels comfortable in Hawai'i's diversity. Davis also describes the tournament as "a little more laid back because people aren't as concerned with losing — they feel like I can go to the beach now ... but people are still really competitive out here."

Lim surprised herself with how competitive she was. This was her first tournament since summer, and since she helped Punahou win the state soccer championship earlier this month. She reached the Round of 16 before falling to fourth-seeded Sarah Lee, then climbed through three rounds in the consolation draw before getting beat by third-seeded Samantha Critser, 6-3, 6-3, yesterday.

Soccer helped with conditioning. Getting her tennis footwork and match feel back will take more time. Lim figured playing opponents who can routinely play 100 matches a year would speed the process and her result confirmed the theory. There is nothing in Hawai'i that can duplicate the intensity of top-level competition that is so common in California and Florida.

"It's definitely a different kind of intensity," Lim said. "Once you step on the court, from the very first point, you've got to concentrate. If you space out for one second, there goes the ball. They are really intense so you've just got to keep up with them and run after every single ball.

"At this level, it's like 90 percent mental. ... The whole competitive spirit inspires me to keep on working on my game."

Lim did not expect to stick around so long — "It was pretty exciting" — and knows this will definitely prepare her for her final high school season. It should also help immensely at Cornell, an Ivy League school that will test her in the classroom, in the cold, and on the court. "I'll see this every day," Lim said, "not just once a year."

NOTES

Hawai'i had 12 girls and 12 boys in the 64-player draws. Along with Kristin Lim, Sayo Tsukamoto also won a singles match in the girls draw and two rounds in consolation. Matt Westmoreland reached the Round of 16 in the boys draw and Logan Chun, Carter Lam and James Lee advanced to second round. Jared Spiker won three rounds in consolation.

Lim's brothers, Robbie and Mikey, also won state high school championships. Robbie graduated from Dartmouth and Mikey, a junior at at Claremont McKenna, was an ITA Scholar-Athlete last spring with a 4.0 GPA.

Marivick Mamitt, whose brother Cecil plays on the world tour, earned the sportsmanship award for the girls. The second seed from Los Angeles placed third. Michael Hui, from Oakland, won the boys sportsmanship award.

The city donated court time for the tournament. There were also 18 National Opens this past week in Tampa, Fla., Waco, Texas, and Cincinnati.