Alcantara eyes second straight Phinma crown

MANILA, Philippines - Francis Casey Alcantara, fresh from his title-retention romp in the Phinma International Juniors Week 1 over the weekend, goes for another crown as he leads the field in Week 2 of the event beginning today at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

Alcantara, 17, didn’t drop a set in ruling last week’s event, capping his run with a 7-5, 6-0 over Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka in the final to gain 40 ITF ranking points.

The Australian Open Juniors doubles champion hopes to re-display his awesome form again this week against practically the same field he dominated in Week I of the event sponsored by Phinma Group of Companies.

Tian Ran of China, who downed Belgium’s Justine de Sutter, 6-2, 7-6(2), to cop the girls plum, likewise shoots for a back-to-back title as she leads the title chase in the distaff side of the $10,000 tournament backed by Tecnifibre Balls, Powerade, Viva Mineral Water, Century Park Hotel and the Philippine Sports Commission.

Wild card entries Anna Christine Patrimonio, Patricia Orteza, Jasmine Ho and Shannin Olivarez open their bids against separate rivals, hoping to make up for the local bets’ poor showing last week that saw four players crash out in the second round.

The other fancied bets in the girls division are Justine de Sutter of Belgium, last week’s losing finalist, Germany’s Katharina Lehnert, China’s Lin Zhu and Taiwan’s Wang Ting-ya.

Joining Alcantara in the boys side are Akio Sy, Juan Regis, John Ribaya and Paul Magaway, who gained wild card berths in the event, the last of four tournaments organized by the Philippine Tennis Association and its chief backers to provide the local netters a venue where they could hone their talent and skills.

Also in the boys’ main draw are RP bets Jason Patrombon, Leander Lazara and Kim Saraza and Japanese Kaichi Uchida and Shoki Hachiya, Korean Woo Chung Hyo and Thais Nuttanon Kadchapanan and Phasawit Burapharitta.