Mendoza reaches final; Capadocia bows to Taiwanese

MANILA, Philippines - Jurence Zosimo Mendoza kept the fight going for the locals when he survived Hong Kong’s Lee Ho-China, 7-5, 7-6 (5), yesterday and made it to the finals of the Tan Ho Cup Asian 14-U Tennis Series boys’ singles finals at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

Mendoza’s victory came after Marian Jade Saldajero Capadocia, the 13-year-old Filipina who’s on a hot streak in the local circuit, took a painful 6-0, 6-3 loss to Chinese Taipei’s Hsu Chung-Wen in their semis pairing in the girls’ division.

Mendoza, another 13-year-old who’s eyeing an ATF scholarship while competing in this 21-leg Asian series for players aged 14 years and below, gave up a five-inch deficit against the 5-foot-11 Lee, but proved steadier on the court.

Winner of three tournaments in Malaysia this year, Mendoza, from the Regional Science High School, won the two-hour, 50-minute contest and earned the right to face No. 2 seed Chun Hun Wong, also of Hong Kong, in today’s finals.

Wong defeated Chinese Taipei’s Lu Yi-Ting, 6-4, 6-2, and will actually have vengeance in his eyes when he faces Mendoza, who defeated the Hong Kong standout in a recent tournament in Taipei.

The top eight players in the boys’ and girls’ sides after the 21-leg series will earn scholarships from the Asian Tennis Federation. Regardless of how many tournaments a player competes in, only his or her top six finishes will count.

Capadocia, a strong potential, gave up a lot of points to her taller Taiwanese foe in the absence of an umpire. Under the ATF setup, umpires are only put in place for finals matches.

“The Taiwanese contested too many points and most of the time she ended up winning the point. Marian is just not the type of player who would argue with her opponent -- win or lose,” said the Filipina’s father, Joenito.

“And the Taiwanese barked on her when contesting some points. Sinisigawan niya si Marian. But my daughter just kept it to herself. She just never complains when she’s out there,” said the father.

Capadocia aggravated the pain in her right pointing finger which she hurt the other day when she stunned top seed Sayesha Dalal (6-0, 6-2) of India in the quarterfinals.

Hsu, tall and lanky, will meet Chu Chin-Hsieh in the finals.