Santos sweeps 3 titles in Olivarez netfest

Manila, Philippines -  Young Alexie Xira Santos enhanced a promising tennis career when she bagged three titles in the second Olivarez-Philta Open Tennis Championships presented by Palawan Pawnshop Express Pera Padala, including the 14-and-under crown, at the Olivarez Sports Center in Sucat.

Santos, a 12-year-old emerging talent from Puerto Princesa, outplayed Monica Cruz, 6-2, 6-1, in the finals of the 14-U last Sunday then overwhelmed Melanie Dizon, 6-1, 6-2, to claim the 12-and-under diadem yesterday.

She also teamed up with Nicole Amistad to defeat Charito Capadocia and Bianca Cruz, 7-5, 6-0, and capture the girls’ 14-U doubles crown in the event sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop Express Pera Padala with Dunlop as official ball.

Santos thus surpassed Roxanne Resma’s double-win in the girls’ 16-U and 18-U classes in the ranking event, sanctioned by Philta, which offers a total prize of P300,000.

Ryotaro Shimomura held off Sebastian Santos, 6-1, 6-4, to barge into the finals of the 10-unisex division against the winner in the Michael Eala-Nio Tria semis duel set today.

Eala also moved to the boys’ 12-U semis with a walkover win over Maverick Legaspi. He faces Gabriel Tiamson, who routed Sebastian Santos, 6-0, 6-0.

In the boys’ 18-U, top seed Eric Jed Olivarez trounced Romnee Joseph, 6-2, 6-1, to reach the semis against Andrew Cano, who thwarted Calvin Canlas, while No. 2 Argil Canizares survived Kyle Parpan, 6-1, 4-6, 10-3, to set up a semis clash with Joel Cabusas, who saw off Francisco Santos, 6-2, 6-4, in the lower half of the draw.

Meanwhile, fancied Jeson Patrombon posted his second 6-2, 6-2 win, this time over Alberto Lim Jr. while second seed Johnny Arcilla bundled out Arc Dolorito, 6-1, 6-2, to join 14 others in the Last 16 phase of the Open men’s singles.

Patrombon will take on Fritz Verdad tomorrow for a quarters seat against the winner in the Francis Casey Alcantara-Rolando Ruel Jr. duel while Arcilla clashes with Arvin Ruel with the winner meeting the victor in the Marc Reyes-Michael Mantua faceoff.