MANILA, Philippines - No. 2 Jacob Martin wore down top seed Justin Suarez in a grueling final showdown and eked out a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 victory to capture the boys’ 16-and-under crown in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala regional age group tennis circuit presented by Technifibre at the Monta-Panaad Tennis Court in Bacolod City yesterday.
La Carlota’s Kiana de Asis, meanwhile, continued to dish out top form and came away with another two-title romp in the girls’ side of the Group 2 tournament sanctioned by Philta headed by president and Parañaque Mayor Edwin Olivarez and held in conjunction with the province’s Masskara Festival celebrations.
Martin, the 16-year-old ace from Xavier School backed by Wilson, leaned on his solid serve-and-volley game in the decider, breaking Suarez once to snare the hotly contested crown in the event sponsored the country’s leading pawnshop, remittance and claim center.
The match took two hours and 50 minutes to finish with Suarez failing to recover and dropping a 4-1 ret. loss to Karl Baran in the 18-U finals.
“Martin and Suarez’s title duel spoke well of the quality of play in the circuit with three more reversals posted underscoring the level playing field among our junior players,” said Palawan Pawnshop president and CEO Bobby Castro.
The No. 2 De Asis reasserted her mastery over Tracy Llamas, humbling the top-seeded bet twice, 6-4, 6-3, for the 14-U crown and 6-2, 7-5 for the 18-U diadem. Llamas, also from La Carlota, averted a shutout by taking the 16-U plum via a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Bliss Bayking.
Another rising La Carlota bet, Alexa Milliam, matched De Asis double victory, beating Avril Suace, 6-2, 6-0, for the girls’ 12-U title and routing top seed Khenz Justiniani, 4-0, 4-0, for the 10-unisex crown.
Fifth-ranked Pete Andre Rodriguez of Bacolod outlasted Kerwin De Asis, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, to bag the boys’ 12-U plum while No. 7 Reynan Mahusay of Pontevedra smothered Rolando Preston, 6-1, 6-1, to clinch the 16-U title.
Meanwhile, action shifts to San Carlos City for the next leg starting Friday for the age-group division while the Palawan Pawnshop Pintaflores Festival Open Tennis Championship fires off Oct. 27 featuring the country’s leading players in the Open category at the San Carlos Tennis Center in San Carlos City.
For details, call Bobby Mangunay, PPS-PEPP organizer and sports program development director at 0915-4046464.