Minh Le and Wei-Yu Su extended their run of perfection at the Blue Moon Men's Night Doubles with a 6-7 (7-2), 6-4, 7-5 championship win over Mikael Maatta and Jan Axel Tribler last night at the Kailua Racquet Club.

A crowd of about 1,000 watched as the two evenly-matched teams played to a virtual standstill until the penultimate game of the third set, when Le and Su managed one of the rare service breaks of the match to set up their eventual win.

Le and Su first teamed for last year's Night Doubles, which they also won over Maatta and Tribler.

"We had to step up because they're such a great team and they don't give you any second chances," said Su. "We had to raise our level and we did."

In the consolation match, Bradley Lum-Tucker and Jesse Paer defeated Chad Shibuya and Gregg Takata 8-4.

With both Le and Su and Maatta and Tribler emphasizing the need to return serves and keep the ball in play, the championship match was as much a battle of will as of skill.

Le and Su applied pressure early, breaking Maatta's serve to go up 5-3 in the first set. But the set turned in the next game, in what may have been the best played point of the night.

After a double-fault by Su put Maatta and Tribler ahead 30-15, the teams took turns doing their best Plastic-Man impressions in a 10-hit rally that featured Tribler reaching back for an improbable behind-the-head return that set up a winning cross-court forehand by Maatta.

Maatta and Tribler took that game as well as the next two to tie the set 5-5.

After splitting the next two games, Maatta and Tribler outscored Le and Su 7-2 to take the tiebreaker.

They rode their momentum to take the first game of the second set, but Su held serve and he and Le played aggressively at the net to steal the next game.

Le's service ace in the fourth game gave he and Su a 3-1 advantage that they maintained on the way to a 6-4 win to even the match.

"Our big mistake was that we kind of fell asleep in the second set," Tribler said. "We had them 1-0 but they broke (serve). We had our break points, but we just didn't do it."

Both teams held serve in an intense, hard-fought third set.

Tribler hit a forehand winner from his knees and followed with a well-placed lob that just nicked the baseline to give he and Maatta a golden opportunity to break Su's serve in the 10th game, but Le took over at the net and Su closed out the game with a service ace to tie the set 5-5.

Le, whose overhand smashes and confounding touch shots at the net gave Maatta and Tribler problems all night, continued his aggressive play in the next pivotal game. His final volley, which grazed the tip of Maatta's outstretched racket before falling to the court, gave he and Su the break for which they had been waiting.

"That was huge," Tribler said. "That was the match."

Le and Su breezed through the next game to clinch the victory and extend their record at the tournament to 8-0.

"Everybody had their chances," Le said. "It was a struggle because everybody was holding (serve) and making their returns. That break was key. It gave us a chance, that mental edge."

Le played the match despite an elbow injury that worsened as the tournament progressed.

"The last couple of games it was really sore, but I knew I'd have a couple of weeks off after this so I just went for it," he said."

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.