RP improves to 8th in Junior Davis Cup

Powered by teenage star Francis Casey (Niño) Alcantara, the Philippines improved from 10th to eighth in the Asia-Oceania Junior Davis Cup standings after beating Malaysia and Hong Kong in the 16-nation, six-day tournament that ended in New Delhi, India, last Saturday.

Alcantara, 16, won five of his six singles matches but couldn’t advance the three-man team past the qualifiers for the World Group as the Philippines lost to New Zealand, Australia, China and Thailand. Alcantara’s teammates were Akio Sy, 16, and Leander Lazaro, 15.

Still, the finish was a two-notch improvement from the competitions last year when Alcantara, Sy and Mark Balse played for the squad coached by Johnny Jose in Thailand.

This year, rookie coach Roland Kraut said Alcantara was a cut above the rest as he trounced Malaysia’s Juan Antonio los Santos, 6-2, 6-2, Hong Kong’s Shing Fung, 6-2, 6-1, New Zealand’s Ben McLachlan, 6-4, 6-3, China’s Yang Lu, 6-3, 6-3 and Thailand’s Adrek Khundanpinitwong, 6-3, 6-3. His only singles loss was a 7-5, 6-0 decision to Australia’s Maverick Banes.

“The crucial tie was against Australia because it was a knockout for a spot in the final four,” said Kraut. “It was just too much pressure on Niño who carried the team on his back from Day 1. Australia showed up with three ITF-ranked players while Niño, who is rated No. 73 in the world juniors, was our only solid player.”

Next year, Alcantara and Sy, who is ranked No. 771, will no longer be eligible for the 16-and-under tournament. Kraut said the mantle of leadership will fall on the 5-10 Lazaro of Malabon.

“The experience in India was overwhelming but will go a long way in giving our players the confidence to win in future tournaments,” said the 30-year-old Kraut, a La Salle graduate and the Archers varsity coach. “It’s important that our players earn ITF points and that means traveling overseas to compete. At the moment, we are targeting six players to join the junior pool. We’ll choose the top three of the six to represent our country in the Junior Davis Cup next year.”

The Philippines’ best finish in the Asia-Oceania junior level was third when Manila hosted in 2005 with Kyle Dandan, Ralph Kevin Barte and Pablo Olivarez making up the team coached by Jose. That brought the Philippines to the World Group of 16 where the team wound up 13th. Making it back to the World Group is Kraut’s goal for next year.

Kraut credited team manager Jean Henri Lhuillier for providing support to the national team.

“Mr. Lhuillier wants continuity in our Davis Cup program from the juniors up,” said Kraut. “It’s a big incentive for our juniors, knowing in the future, they could be playing for the country in the senior Davis Cup.”

Kraut said Alcantara will now focus on qualifying for the Grand Slam junior events.

“If Niño is in the ITF top 60, he’ll automatically play in the main draw of the Grand Slam tournaments,” said Kraut. “But if not, he’ll go through the qualifiers. With the proper support, he hopes to play in the US Open this August then next year, in the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open.”

The Philippines got off to a strong start in New Delhi with a 2-1 win over Malaysia as Alcantara and Lazaro teamed up to capture the deciding doubles match, 6-2, 6-3, over los Santos and Chang Tun Sie. Then came a 2-1 victory over Hong Kong with Alcantara combining with Sy to whip Kwan Lam and Siu Fai Lam, 6-4, 7-5, in the doubles clincher.

New Zealand dealt the Philippines its first loss, 2-1, as Alcantara and Lazaro dropped a close 3-6, 6-1, 9-7 thriller in doubles to McLachlan and Sebastian Lavie. Australia crushed the Philippines’ hopes of advancing to the semifinals with a 3-0 romp.

China beat the Philippines, 2-1, as Alcantara and Lazaro lost a 6-3, 6-2 decision to Yang and Guan Yu Cao in doubles and Thailand carved out a similar 2-1 verdict to relegate the Philippines to eighth with Alcantara and Sy bowing in doubles, 6-2, 6-1.

Kraut said Alcantara proved deserving of his lofty world ranking. Alcantara was the second highest ITF ranked player in the tournament, next only to India’s Yuki Bhambri who is No. 5.

The final standings of the Asia-Oceania Junior Davis Cup tournament – 1. India, 2. Japan, 3. Australia, 4. Chinese-Taipei, 5. China, 6. New Zealand, 7. Thailand, 8. Philippines, 9. Korea, 10. Indonesia, 11. Malaysia, 12. Hong Kong, 13. Uzbekistan, 14. Kazakhstan, 15. Pakistan and 16. Singapore.