Capadocia, Arcilla top Cainta netfest

MANILA, Philippines - Marian Capadocia mastered Clarice Patrimonio while Johnny Arcilla toppled PJ Tierro as they shared top honors for the second straight week in the third Cainta-Palawan Pawnshop Open Tennis Championships last Sunday at the Brookside Hills Tennis Club in Cainta.

The third-ranked Capadocia dished out a near-flawless game to repeat over Patrimonio, 6-2, 6-2, and clinch the ladies singles crown in a big follow-up to her Olivarez Cup feat where she turned back the No. 2 Patrimonio, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(2).

The top-seeded Arcilla, who beat doubles partner Vicente Anasta to cop the men’s singles title in the Olivarez Cup, broke Tierro once in the opening set then outlasted his third-ranked rival in the next frame to hack out a 6-4, 7-6(2) decision in the event presented by Palawan Pawnshop and held in cooperation with Mayor Mon Ilagan and Babolat.

Arcilla and Anasta later teamed up to beat Marc Reyes and Tierro, 6-4, 6-3, and capture the men’s doubles plum for the second straight week while Marinel Rudas and Edilyn Balanga outpointed Clarice and Christine Patrimonio, 4-6, 6-1, 10-8, to cop the ladies doubles title.

While Arcilla’s win only validated his claim as the country’s top netter, Capadocia’s back-to-back victories against the country’s leading players will give the 17-year-old ace the No. 1 spot in the ladies ranking starting next month.

“Marian’s repeat win only showed she’s ready to assume the top ranking in the ladies side,” said Bobby Castro, COO of the sponsoring Palawan Pawnshop.

Meanwhile, top country’s leading pawnshop firm resumes its holding of the age-group tournaments with the staging of the Palawan Pawnshop Regional age-group championships beginning Saturday (March 30), also at the Brookside courts.

“We expect another banner field to vie for top honors in our age-grouper where we hope to identify talents who can be developed and trained to become members of the national pool,” said Castro.

The upcoming Group 2 tournament, sanctioned by the Philippine Tennis Association, will feature the leading and rising junior stars from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.