Victorino unseats champ

Teener Joseph Victorino played awesome tennis to shock defending champion Johnny Arcilla, 6-2, 7-5, yesterday and barged into the finals of the 21st PCA Open at the PCA Indoor Courts where a win would install him as RP’s No. 1 netter.

Solid as rock from the baseline, Victorino, who recently turned 19 midway in this event presented by Accel and Dunlop, took the first set in a brilliant display of shotmaking before hanging tough in the second to finish off the fancied Arcilla in an hour and 45 minutes.

"I won because I was more patient," said the 19-year-old Victorino, who is now 2-0 this year against Arcilla, 22, with the first win coming in the finals of the General Santos Open last September.

Standing on his path is second seed Adelo Abadia, who bombarded tournament sensation Nino Salvador of San Sebastian who hacked out 6-0, 6-1 triumph for his second straight PCA finals appearance.

A native of Aurora, Zamboanga del Sur, Abadia abandoned his steady baseline game, unnerving 11th ranked Salvador as early as the opening set to dictate the tempo in a win that took them just 50 minutes to complete.

"Binago ko yung style ko kaya nagulat siya, hindi niya alam kung ano ang gagawin," said Abadia, a Davis Cupper for four straight years now.

Like Victorino, a Lleyton Hewitt fan, Abadia is gunning for the elusive PCA title at 1 p.m. tomorrow at after failing to do so last year and regain the top position he once held.

"Maganda ang laban," said the 25-year-old Abadia.

But none seems to want it more than Victorino, whose unwavering patience and superb baseline play claimed tough Korean Chung Eui Hyun, 6-2, 6-3, in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

In women’s doubles, the top seeded pair of Czarina Mae Arevalo and veteran Rina Caniza overcame the Korean tandem of Kim Soo Jin and Lee Min Hee, 6-3, 6-2, to remain on track for a title repeat.

The Arevalo-Caniza duo takes on Petrona Bantay and DJ Suarez, who dumped Ivy de Castro and Rocio Matute Lista, 6-0, 6-3, in this event supported by The STAR, Coca-Cola, San Miguel, PBCOM, Photokina, Equitable-PCI, PVL Restaurant-Little Lawrence, Copacobana and Trans Asia Power.

The women’s semis matches featuring Arevalo against Kim and second pick Patricia Santos of University of the Philippines versus Lee are set today.

Victorino made his move in the fourth game of the opening set, breaking Arcilla’s serve and took control in three of the next four games in a first set.

But Arcilla is not about to fade away that easy.

From a 2-5 down in the second set, Arcilla struck hard as he gave Victorino a taste of his lethal forehand shots to take the next two games.

Arcilla, who booted out one of the two Koreans on the men’s draw with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Lee Chang Hoon, fought off a matchpoint in the 10th game with three consecutive winners highlighted by a forehand drive that knotted the count at 5-all.

But it was to be Arcilla’s last show of force as Victorino banked on his solid baseline game again and after the game-clinching top spin lob, he threw his racket in the air and clenched his fist in jubilation.