MANILA, Philippines - Top ranked Jacob Martin refused to crack up and subdued No. 2 Marcus Del Rosario in a nerve-wracking finale, 6-1, 6-7(0), 10-6, to capture the crown in Palawan Pawnshop Regional age-group tennis tournament presented by Babolat in Palawan last week.
Martin, 11, bounced back from a sorry second-set setback and leaned on his solid forehand shots to shake off Del Rosario in the decider and annex the victory, his third in a young career.
Playing out of Xavier School in San Juan, Martin disposed of Region 4 champion Joaquim Dante in the quarters, 6-1, 6-4, but struggled past a hard-fighting No. 4 Maraphael Teng in the semis, carving out a 7-5, 4-6, 10-8 win that took two hours and 40 minutes to finish.
He came out fresh against Del Rosario although he needed to lean on his forehand shots and returns to wear down his second seeded rival and pound out the hard-earned victory in the first leg of Philta’s Regional Tennis League.