Patrimonio sisters on collision course

MANILA, Philippines - Christine and Clarice Patrimonio stayed on track for a title showdown as they beat their respective rivals in contrasting fashions to advance to the semifinal round of the women’s singles of the 34th Philippine Columbian Association (PCA) Open-Cebuana Lhuillier Wildcard Event at the PCA’s Plaza Dilao clay courts in Paco, Manila yesterday.

The seventh ranked Christine, 23, pulled the rug from under second seed Marinel Rudas, fighting back from an opening set setback with a convincing triumph in the second frame before rallying from 2-4 down in the decider to squeeze out a grueling 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory in three hours, 10 minutes.

The 21-yeaer-old Clarice, on the other hand, dispatched youthful Rafaella Villanueva with relative ease, 6-1, 6-3, in the upper half of the draw.

The elder Patrimonio will meet No. 4 Maia Balce, who turned back Hannah Espinosa, 6-0, 6-0, while Clarice slugs it out with Edilyn Balanga, who downed Shaira Hope Rivera, 6-3, 6-1, in tomorrow’s semifinals of the tournament backed by Cebuana Lhuillier, Puma, Dunlop, The Philippine STAR, Head, Babolat, Compass/IMOSTI and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao.

“I hope we could both make the finals but I have Maia (Balce) first before anything else,” said Christine, hoping to finally bag the big one after a pair of runner-up finishes a few years ago.

While Clarice made short work of Villanueva, Christine had to dig deeper into her repertoire of shots then leaned on her big fighting heart and pounced on her rival’s meltdown after storming to a 4-2 lead in the decider.

“I was playing tight in the first set and was playing angry. I just kept my cool and took it slow after, which helped me a lot. It helped that she (Rudas) lost her temper in the third set,” said Patrimonio, a fourth year marketing student at National U.

In men’s action, eighth-time winner Johnny Arcilla and defending champion PJ Tierro hurdled their respective foes to roll into the semis of the event supported by Whirlpool/Fujidenzo, Broadway Motor Sales Corp. Coca-Cola Fesma Philippines, Tyrecorp Incorporated, Pearl Garden Hotel, Metro Global Holdings Corporation, Avida, PVL Restaurant, Mary Grace Foods, Inc., Seno Hardware and Wire Rope Corp.

The 35-year-old Arcilla dumped Ronard Joven, 6-3, 6-2, while Tierro needed a third set to foil Marc Anthony Alcoseba, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0.

Arcilla will next face the winner between Francis Casey Alcantara and AJ Lim while Tierra clashes with either Enebert Anasta and Rolando Ruel Jr. at resumption of action today.

Arcilla actually struggled in the early going, yielding the first two games before stepping up his attack that saw him send his rival running and chasing the ball.

“He (Joven) was hitting well in the first two games. So I made some changes and made him run,” said Arcilla in Filipino.

Rudas dictated the pace early and dominated Patrimonio to snare the opening set. But Patrimonio fought back and outplayed Rudas in a battle of solid baseline players.