Mendoza, Sunga reach First Gen quarters

Manila, Philippines - Ma. Angela Sunga and Isabella Mendoza rolled past their respective rivals to set up a pair of quarterfinal duels with the seeded bets in the girls’ 18-under class of the fourth First Gen/Juntaphil Metro Age Group tennis tournament at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center yesterday.

Sunga flashed fine form to oust Bea Ebriega, 6-3, 6-2, to set up a quarters showdown with top seed Anne Castillo while Mendoza scrambled past Arvilyn Bernardo, 6-3, 7-6(4), for a Last 8 faceoff with third seed Akiko de Guzman.

AJ Carnay also came away with a one-sided 6-0, 6-1 win over Kimberly Lim but will have her hands full against second seed Samantha Coyiuto in the girls’ premier class in the event presented by First Gen Corporation and sponsored by Smart Communications.

Castillo also primed herself up for a twin win as the second seeded bet routed Catherine de Castro, 6-0, 6-0, to enter the quarters of the 16-under division headed by top seed De Guzman, who whisked off Nicole Eugenio, 6-4, 6-2, in the upper draw.

Also advancing in the tournament sanctioned by Philta, organized by Juntaphil and backed by Technifibre are Jennie Dizon, who blanked Katherine Espedidio, 6-0, 6-0, and Katrina Orteza, who fended off Erika Manduriao, 6-4, 6-3, and Ma. Angela Sunga, who hacked out a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Joy Yuen.

Top seed Janelle Llavore, meanwhile, cruised into the semis of the girls’ 14-under play with a 6-1, 6-1 rout of Sam Asistio, setting up a showdown with Camille So, who dominated Amanda Zoleta, 6-0, 6-0. No. 2 Chrislyn Sioson thwarted Therese Cruz, 6-1, 7-5, for a semis clash with Frances Santiago, who eased out Mikaela Vicencio, 6-0, 6-0.

In the boys’ 18-under play, No. 1 Dheo Talatayod went through a wringer before subduing Kyle Parpan, 7-6(3), 3-6, 13-11, to arrange a quarters duel with fifth seed Alfonso Opulencia, who downed Jed Panghulan, 6-3, 6-0. Others who pulled through were second seed Betto Orendain, No. 6 Romeo Dimakiling, third seed Alberto Villamor, Antonio Punzalan, Jeremiah Latorre and Calvin Canlas.

Orendain held off Ahmad Armama, 6-3, 0-6, 10-4; Dimakiling won over Darwin delos Reyes, 6-0, 6-1; Villamor booted out Hans Asistio, 7-5(2), 6-2; Punzalan beat Nicholas Cano, 6-1, 6-2; Latorre upset No. 7 Gabriel Gutierrez, 6-4, 6-3; and Canlas shocked No. 4 Enrique Ferrer, 6-2, 6-1.