MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines’ Francis Casey ‘Niño’ Alcantara suffered cramps in the crucial stretch of the third and deciding set and fell to Matteo Civarolo of Italy, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, in yesterday’s third round of the 20th Mitsubishi Lancer ITF Junior Championships at the Rizal Tennis Center.
Alcantara, ranked 17th in the world and seeded second in this weeklong event, was ahead in the third set, 3-2, when he felt legs cramps.
“He’s a great player, I had a hard time with him at first but I just tried not to hurry up with my returns,” said Civarolo.
The Cagayan de Oro City native, the other half of the doubles team that ruled the Australian Juniors Open early in the year, however, tried to shrug off the injury as he managed his way to a 5-4 advantage.
No. 15 Civarola was a step faster from there as he unloaded a pair of aces – one of the 10 he hit in the game – in the 10th game as he knotted the count at five-all before seizing the final two games with a blistering forehand winner to snatch the win.
So disappointed was the gutsy Filipino, a semifinalist here last year, that he smashed his racket after the game before shaking hands with his 16-year-old Italian conqueror.
The win set Civarolo up against the winner of the showdown between No. 7 Maximillian Neuchrist of Austria and Muddapa Appanervanda of India, who were playing at press time.
Serbian Tamara Curovic and Russian Ksenia Gospodinova likewise sprang some surprises with wins over No. 2 Beatrice Gumulya of Indonesia, 6-1, 6-4, and No. 11 Malou Ejdesgaard of Denmark, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5).
Qualifier Despina Papamichail of Greece downed No. 15 Melis Sezer, 6-4, 0-6, 6-4, to forge a duel with No. 7 Polina Leykina of Russia, who trounced No. 10 Juang Ting Fei, 6-4, 7-5. – Joey Villar