There is nothing like a little international competition to spice up the Class 5A boys state tennis tournament. That certainly will be the case today at the Gates Tennis Center when action resumes at 9 a.m.

In the upper bracket at No. 2 singles, undefeated Simon Hegelund, from Denmark, who plays for George Washington, will take on once-beaten Yohei Uema, from Japan, who plays for Chaparral.

In the lower portion, it's an all-American duo, where Cherry Creek's Taylor Sargent will play against Colin Haas of Regis Jesuit. The winners in all brackets advance to Saturday's championship matches.

Uema beat Arvada West's Frank LaForge, 6-3, 6-1 in his opening-round match, then outlasted J.B. Brittan of Heritage, 7-5, 6-3 in the quarterfinals. Hegelund ousted Arapahoe's Ky Kocur, 6-0, 6-3 in the first round before a 6-2, 6-2 victory against McKay Inman of Pine Creek.

"I've never played a foreign-exchange student here or back in Denmark," said Hegelund, a junior who hopes to win the title along with his older brother, Mads, who play at No. 1 singles.

"I'm looking forward to it, and it's going to be a very tough match and exciting. I like the high school format very much. It is very new to me and I like the friendship aspects of high school sports."

The same for Uema, a junior and a member of the Friends Abroad Program.

"Yes, it will be a very international match," said Uema, who has won 19 straight since losing his opening match of the season to Mark Miller of Regis Jesuit. "He is a very strong player, like my first opponent, who was a strong hitter. I'm looking forward to a fine match."

The same thoughts abound for Chaparral coach Ed Anderson and George Washington's Ken Mason, who was a two-time state champion when he played at Cherry Creek.

"It's going to be very exciting," Mason said. "They are both strong hitters. It's interesting to have the Europeans and the Asian kids here."

Said Anderson: "We had a scrimmage with GW at the beginning of the year, but Yo was playing at No. 3 and didn't play Hegelund. These are two fine young players, and I think fans will enjoy their play."

But the foreign flavor does not end with the Hegelunds or Uema. At No. 1 doubles is the duo of Sweden's Carl Rosengren, who is teamed with Ian Ron and playing for Boulder. They beat Chaparral's Colton Duffy and Dalton Ammerman, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 in their first match and Mountain Vista's Ryan Winter and Trevor David, 6-2, 6-0 in the quarterfinals.

The Panthers duo faces a tough challenge today, though, when they play Cherry Creek's Zach Chernow and Joel Lowinger.

"I, too, love to play high school sports," Rosengren said. "We only have club sports in Sweden and only practice about three times a week. It's a different atmosphere here, one that's very enjoyable."

No doubt, Ron has enjoyed playing with Rosengren.

"Carl's a great player," Ron said. "He's always been there for me, and I think we're a great team together. I've told him about Cherry Creek's history, and we wanted to play against Creek in the semifinals when we saw the seedings."

Cherry Creek is tied with Regis Jesuit in the team race after the first day with 12 points each.

Even though Cherry Creek is playing without a player at No. 1 singles, it is on track to win its 36th title in the past 38 years. The Bruins advanced to the semifinals at the other six positions.

"We've done well to this point, but it's not over," Cherry Creek coach Kirk Price said. "We've got a lot of work to do and Regis is hot on our tail. This one should go right down to the end."