Rudas survives Iglupas, seals rematch with Capadocia

MANILA, Philippines - Top seed Marinel Rudas wore down Khim Iglupas in a nerve-wracking duel and carved out a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) decision to arrange a rematch with Olivarez Cup champion Marian Capadocia in the third Cainta-Palawan Pawnshop Open Tennis Championships last Friday.

Capadocia, who beat Rudas in the semis then turned back Clarice Patrimonio to clinch the Olivarez Cup plum recently, stopped giant-killer Edilyn Balanga, 6-4, 6-4, to stay in the hunt for another victory in the event presented by Palawan Pawnshop and organized by the Brookside Hills Tennis Club in cooperation with the LGUs of Cainta.

But Capadocia expects a tougher outing this time against Rudas, who recovered from a first-set struggle and overcame the gutsy Iglupas in a thrilling third-set duel at the Brookside Hills Tennis Club in Cainta, Rizal

Second seed Clarice Patrimonio took the other semis berth in the lower draw with a 2-1 (Ret.) win over Macy Gonzales to set up a clash with sixth ranked Roxanne Resma, who upset No. 4 Alyssa Labay, 6-2, 6-2.

While Resma provided the lone reversal in the ladies side, Fil-Italian Marc Reyes delivered the surprise in the men’s division as he upended No. 4 Rolando Ruel Jr. to move into the semis against Johnny Arcilla.

The top seeded Arcilla whipped Leander Lazaro, 6-4, 6-1, to likewise remain on course for a “double” after beating last year’s champion Vicente Anasta in the finals of the Olivarez Cup.

Anasta also kept his title hopes alive by beating Mark Anthony Alcoseba, 6-3, 6-3, to seal a Final Four clash with third seed Patrick Tierro, who scored a 4-6, 6-1, 4-0 (Ret.) win over Antonio Sagansay.

“The semis matches in both sides promise to be a blockbuster with no one holding a distinct advantage over the other,” said Palawan Pawnshop COO Bobby Castro.

Arcilla indeed faces a tough challenge from Reyes, who showed top form in ousting Ruel, while the Anasta-Tierro match-up is also expected to go to a deciding third set.

The same could be said of the ladies semis with Rudas itching to get back at Capadocia and the latter hoping to re-assert her mastery of the top-seeded bet while Patrimonio is going all-out against Resma to atone for her failed title-retention drive in the Olivarez Cup.