Villatito, Santiago collide in quarterfinals

MANILA, Philippines – Chino Villatito scored a walkover win over top seed Paul Magaway to cruise to the quarterfinal round of the premier 18-and-under division of the second First Gen Juntaphil Metro Age Group Tennis Championships at the Rizal Tennis Center yesterday.

Villatito, who swamped Juan Carlo Cano, 6-0, 6-3, in the first round, faces Joshua Santiago in the quarters after the latter outlasted Aaron San Diego, 6-3, 7-5.

Also gaining berths in the quarters were second seed Juan Fidel Regis, third ranked Juan Gabriel Pena, No. 4 Alberto Villamor, sixth seed Ed Amor, No. 7 Pemrick Alina and Jaime dela Paz.

Villatito also advanced in the 16-and-under class where he is ranked No. 2 as he outclassed Laurence Mariano, 6-0, 6-0, to join top seed Kyle Parpan and other fancied players in the third round of the event sponsored by Smart Communications and presented by First Gen Corp.

Parpan booted out Edison Portacio, 6-4, 6-0, to set up a clash with Joshua Santiago, who repulsed Burmiel Pineda, 4-6, 7-5 (10-2). Others who advanced were Enrique Ferrer, John Victoria, Raymark Gulfo, Alfonso del Carmen, Ellison Bingcang and Michael Destura.

Mark Concepcion, Neil Paez, Rhett Martinez, Erickson Marquez, Joel Buenaflor, Andrew Cano and Betto Orendain.

In the 14-and-under girls, top ranked Marian Capadocia swept Isabella Mendoza, 6-0, 6-0, to arrange a quarterfinal duel with Chrizelle Sampaton, who beat Bea Ebriega, 6-0, 6-3.

Also advancing in the tournament sanctioned by the Phhilta and organized by the Junior Tennis Association of the Philippines (Juntaphil) with Wilson as official balls, were Cruzzabelle Paulino, Monika Banez, Treena Quierrez, Cristabelle Paulino, Nicole Eugenio and second seed Akiko de Guzman.

Meanwhile, reversals continued to mar the lower groups as unfancied Stefan Suarez hacked out a tough 6-7 (10), 6-2, 14-12 thriller over seventh ranked Joel Atienza to reach the third round of the 12-and-under category.

Suarez proved steadier than Atienza in their marathon third set showdown to arrange a third round clash with Miguel dela Paz, who smothered Mark Agner, in their own side of the duel.

Top seed Eric Olivarez, meanwhile, came out unscathed and overpowered Ivan Gonzales en route to a one-sided 6-0, 6-0 rout while No. 3 Ernesto Gatdula, No. 4 Julian Dayrit. No. 5 Bruce Valenzuela, and No. 8 Mimo Tomacruz all breezed past their respective rivals, also in the boys’ 12-and-under class.

But sixth seed Kyle Singson needed to fight back from a set down to turn back Gregory Kuznetsov, 2-6, 6-1, 10-6.