Altiche, Reyes hold sway in PSC jr tennis

MANILA, Philippines - Fancied John Altiche and Radharani Reyes survived the rash of upsets in the first Philippine Sports Commission National 2010 Age Group Tennis Championships as they fended off their respective rivals to advance to the quarterfinal round in the boys’ 18-and-under division at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center yesterday.

The top-seeded Altiche walloped Vernon Huibonhua, 6-0, 6-2, while the second-ranked Reyes downed Hans Asistio, 6-3, 6-4, in the lower half of the draw of the centerpiece event in the last of two age-group tournaments put by the PSC chaired by Richie Garcia.

Altiche, who topped Week One, faces giant-slayer Andrew Joshua Cano for a seat in the semis at press time. The unranked Cano booted out seventh seed Elison Bingcang, 6-1, 6-4.

Reyes, meanwhile, breezed through the semis with a walkover win.

Unseeded Kyle Parpan also pulled off a shock win over No. 3 Kristian Joy Tesorio, 7-6 (6), 2-6, 10-8, to set up a quarterfinal showdown with No. 8 Betto Orendain, who edged upset-conscious Ahmad Armama, 7-5, 6-4.

Orendain stopped Parpan’s win spree in the Week One semifinals in a 6-1, 7-5 triumph although the former fell short in his title bid and lost to Altiche, 7-5, 3-6, 2-6.

Unseeded Adam Deromas, who humbled No. 4 Arjohn dela Cruz, 7-5, 6-4, likewise advanced with a walkover win and will face off with another unfancied player Gabriel Gutierrez, a 6-1, 6-2 winner over Um Daniel.