WAIPAHU — For the second straight year, the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Hawai'i Open looked like a Manoa tennis marketing campaign.

Sophie Kobuch, a Rainbow Wahine sophomore from France, flew by Hawai'i Pacific freshman Nina Mihova, 6-1, 6-2, yesterday in a women's final where the players were smaller than the ballkids. Mihova left Bulgaria two weeks ago and was in her first Hawai'i event, at Patsy T. Mink Central O'ahu Regional Park.

In a high-quality men's final, Rainbow wannabe Dennis Lajola beat HPU All-American Hendrik Bode, 6-2, 6-3. It was Bode's first loss since he arrived from Germany last year, with the exception of a USTA Futures event. Coincidentally, Lajola's first prize includes a wild card into the main draw of November's Honolulu Futures.

Since all singles finalists were students, they could not accept prize money from the $3,000 purse, aside from expenses.

Lajola, 18, might be the best junior in Hawai'i history. He moved to the Mainland in 2004 and has spent the last three-plus years training and studying at academies and with the national high performance program, and playing all over the world. He was on the victorious Junior Davis Cup team with Donald Young, last seen in the third round of the U.S. Open.

Lajola won doubles championships at the USTA nationals and Easter Bowl and reached the Round of 16 at last year's Australian Open Juniors.

What he would really like to do now is become the third consecutive University of Hawai'i player to become Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year. But the guy who would be the highest-profile tennis recruit in UH history is in eligibility limbo, dealing with the paperwork involved following his unconventional high school years. He has been home in 'Aiea since Easter and now hopes to be eligible in January, when the UH season starts in earnest.

In the meantime, he has been hitting with the best players he can find. Most are friends of brother Derrick, who just finished his UH eligibility and will be the Rainbow Wahine assistant while he finishes his degree.

Training partners include Germans Andreas Weber and Sascha Heinemann, the last two WAC Freshmen of the Year. The top two seeds at this year's Hawai'i Open — Heinemann won last year — both defaulted with illness/injury.

That left Lajola, the fourth seed, against Bode, the sixth seed. Both brought big serves and all-court games. The difference ultimately was Lajola's focus, ability to pass Bode for most of the 46-minute match, and a well-placed first serve.

"I'm 5-10 at best, so I can't be bombing serves," Lajola said. "I'm not going to be able to get 10 aces a match. I realize that. Placing it is the best thing for me."

Lajola lost only two points on his serve in the first set, and broke Bode in his last two service games. Lajola fell into a love-40 hole to start the second set, but won five straight points to hold there and another five straight to break Bode in the fourth game. It was all he needed to win his first title in Hawai'i since ... well, before he left home at age 14.

"I was looking at other schools when I couldn't get in (to UH) in the fall, but I just can't see myself anywhere else but Hawai'i," Lajola said. "Hawai'i fits me the best. I get along great with the players ... the players are great and I want to be here."

Kobuch lost just four points in the first four games of the women's final, made just four errors in the first set and converted all three break chances. Her deep shots kept Mihova off-balance all 57 minutes.

Mihova, a top junior in Bulgaria, could not cope with Kobuch's consistency. She lost the first four games of the second set before finally breaking Kobuch's serve, but could not turn the match around.

Kobuch's sole strategy was to forget the score and focus on not holding back. She was frustrated by her inability to stay aggressive — "sometimes I destroy myself" — but her breakdowns were rare.

The pre-med major played top three at UH last spring, but expects a surge of new, talented teammates in January after coach Jun Hernandez drove 5,500 miles across Europe on a month-long recruiting trip this summer.

"Hopefully," she said, grinning, "I won't be playing No. 1."

NOTES

Four-time state high school champion Erin Hoe teamed with Rie Yukihiro to defeat HPU's Tinka Mihova and Lauren Shin, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4), in the women's doubles final. Yukihiro also upset second-seeded Ingrid Cseh in the first round of singles. Two-time Kailua Night Doubles champions Michael Bruggemann and Erich Chen captured men's doubles, 5-7, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3, over former HPU All-Americans Mikael Maatta and Jan Axel Tribler.

The USTA Pro Circuit returns to Hawai'i in November, with the Waikoloa Futures starting Nov. 5 and the Honolulu Futures Nov. 12. Both are $15,000 events, with players also receiving world ranking points.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.