Palawan Open faves crush rivals

MANILA, Philippines — The top guns in the Palawan Open 2026 dismantled their rivals for a flying start in the blue-ribbon event at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

Top seed Digvijay Pratap Singh of India dealt local challenger Ethan Cablitas a solid 6-0, 6-0 shutout. The ATP-ranked star advanced to the second round against Jeremiah Latorre, who moved on following a 7-5, 1-0 (ret.) victory over Kian Sanchez.

Matching Singh’s clinical precision in the lower half of the 64-player draw was No. 2 seed Alberto “AJ” Lim Jr. who dominated Adrian Cagitlan in a shutout victory.

Third-ranked Eric Jed Olivarez, coming off a stellar quarterfinal run in China, dropped only two games in a 6-1, 6-1 dismantling of Raphael Villanueva.