Arevalo hurdles foe in qualifier

MANILA, Philippines - Czarina Mae Arevalo rallied from an opening set loss to turn back Germany’s Katharina Lehnert, 2-6, 7-5, 6-2, to remain in the hunt for a berth in the main draw of the Holcim/ITF Women’s Circuit Week I at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center yesterday.

Arevalo, the former PCA Open champion, outsteadied Lehnert in the second set before dominating the decider to advance to the final round of the two-day qualifying phase.

Arevalo, 24, faces Taiwanese Lee Pei-chi today in the event sponsored by Holcim, PLDT/Smart and Phinma and backed by Tecnifibre Balls.

Lee outplayed Filipina Marinel Rudas, 6-2, 6-4, in their own side of the duel in the tournament sanctioned by the Internationial Tennis Federation and hosted by the Philippine Tennis Association.

Three other RP bets failed to advance with Marian Jade Capadocia, Marian Hillary De Guzman and Shannin Mae Olivarez dropping similar straight-set defeats to their respective foreign rivals.

Capadocia bowed to Taiwan’s Chen Yen-ling, 6-2, 6-1; De Guzman lost to Liu Chi-fan, also of Taiwan, 6-2, 6-2; and Olivarez absorbed a 6-3, 6-2, loss to Linda Mair of Italy.

Others who advanced to the final day of the qualifier were Japan’s Yoko Naito, Kim Jung-eun of Korea, India’s Ashmita Easwaramurthi, Ivana King of the US, Lam Po-Kuen of Hong Kong, Zhang Nan-nan of China, Miao Yui-lynn of Taiwan, He Sirui of China, Tanaporn Thongsing of Thailand, You Ju-hee of Korea and Jessica Sabeshinskaja of Germany.