MANILA, Philippines - Japanese Ayumi Miyamoto battled back from a set down and turned back Khim Iglupas with a gutsy game in the decider, scoring a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) victory to barge into the finals of the girls’ singles in the Phinma-PSC International Juniors Tennis Championships – Week 2 at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center yesterday.
Miyamoto wore down Iglupas in a thrilling third set duel and pulled through to get back at the Filipina ace and foil the latter’s bid for a sweep of the girls’ singles crown in the Grade 4 ITF (International Tennis Federation) 18-Under category event sponsored by the Phinma Group of Companies, Philippine Sports Commission and Mariposa Foundation.
It was a sorry setback for Iglupas, who dominated Miyamoto, 6-4, 6-1, in the quarterfinals last week but whose moves were hampered by blisters in her foot while trying to score a repeat over her Japanese rival in a match that took two hours and 35 minutes to finish.
Earlier, Momoko Chimura held off compatriot Satoko Sueno, 6-4, 7-5, in overcast skies to set up an all-Japanese finale in the event sanctioned by the Philippine Tennis Association and backed by Asiatraders Corp for the Dunlop balls.
But while Iglupas failed to gain a crack at a second singles plum, Toru Horie stayed in the hunt for a sweep as he thwarted India’s Udayan Bhakar, 7-5, 1-6, 6-3, to advance to the boys’ singles final.
Miyamoto recovered from an opening set loss by breaking Iglupas once in the second set then wrested control in the fifth game of the decider. But Iglupas fought back to send the match into a tiebreaker where Miyamoto pounced on her rival’s struggle in movement to pound out the win.