MANILA, Philippines - Marian Capadocia pulled off one big shot one after another in the tiebreaker and wore down Clarice Patrimonio to carve out a thrilling 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(2) victory yesterday and capture the ladies singles crown in the third Olivarez Cup Open Tennis Championship at the Olivarez Sports Center in Sucat yesterday.
Capadocia struck back from a set down by breaking Patrimonio once in the second set to force a decider then unleashed big winners in a nerve-wracking finish to turn back the second seeded defending champion and complete the come-from-behind victory.
The 17-year-old Capadocia, ranked third in field of 32, broke and held serve in the tiebreaker to post a 3-0 lead then went on to dominate Patrimonio, ending the grueling three-hour, 14-minute encounter with a forehand winner to pocket the crown worth P15,000.
It was a big week indeed for Capadocia, who stunned the top-seeded Marinel Rudas, 6-4, 6-3, late Friday to get a crack at the crown in the annual event presented by Palawan Pawnshop and held in honor of former Parañaque mayor Dr. Pablo Olivarez.
Doubles partners top seed Johnny Arcilla and No. 2 defending champion Vicente Anasta, meanwhile, disposed of their respective semifinal rivals to set up a showdown for the men’s title in the tournament sponsored by Dunlop Sports, Stronghold Insurance, FedEx Air21 and Olivarez Sports Center.
Arcilla kept his unbeaten run with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over fourth seed Rolando Ruel Jr. while Anasta came back from a set down and endured a tough second set duel to foil No. 3 Patrick Tierro, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Arcilla and Anasta earlier teamed up to beat Marc Reyes and Tierro, 6-4, 7-6(4), to clinch the men’s doubles diadem while Clarice and sister Christine Patrimonio won a sibling rivalry with the Capadocias as they downed Marian and Jella, 6-4, 6-2, for the women’s doubles crown.