MATTHEW Garcia pulled off a shock 7-5, 6-2 victory over seventh seed Sida Zeng of China while Jose Antonio Tria rolled past Hong Kong’s Kyle Lok Yin Tang, 6-3, 6-2, at the start of the 2017 Phinma-PSC Juniors Tennis Championships Week I at the Manila Polo Club in Forbes Park yesterday.
Garcia, son of former tennis star Dyan Castillejo, survived a tight first set duel with Zeng then sustained his form to dominate the second frame as the 14-year-old Montessori Alabang student moved into the second round against Ryota Ishii of Japan, who clobbered Indonesian Jerall Yasin, 6-1, 6-0.
Tria, on the other hand, overpowered Tang and fashioned out a lopsided win, which primed up the rising local star against Taiwanese Chun Jui Kung, who upset No. 8 Darrshan Suresh of Malaysia, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Meanwhile, Justin Suarez likewise advanced with an emphatic 6-1, 6-0 rout of Man San Chan of Hong Kong with the 17-year-old Filipino bracing for an uphill battle against the victory in the No. 4 O Arazza of Indonesia-Xie Yu Lun of China match in the upper half of the 32-player draw of the Group 4 ITF (International Tennis Federation) boys’ 18-and-under event sponsored by the Philippine Investment Management Consultants (Phinma) and sanctioned by the Philippine Tennis Association (Philta).
Top seed Shunsuke Mitsui of Japan eased out wild card Marco Ayala, 6-0, 6-0; Japan’s Mikihisa Matsuaki held off qualifier Julian Fernandez, 6-4, 6-2; No. 3 Taiyo Yamanaka routed qualifier Stephan Lhuillier, 6-0, 6-1, in the event supported by Technifiber ball as official ball, official hotel Jinjiang Inn, Makati and the Philippine Sports Commission.
Others who advanced were Singapore’s Justin Oeni, who booted out Jacinto Barrientos, 6-0, 6-0; No. 6 Malaysian Shamirul Shahril Mohm Adam Das, who defeated wild card Joseph Tiamson, 6-3, 6-2; Kei Manaka of Japan, who bundled out qualifier Rucel Cero, 7-6(3), 6-1; and American Jericho Grollman, who foiled wild card Marcus Del Rosario, 6-4, 6-1.
Meanwhile, Week 2 of the annual event is slated Nov. 21-26 with the two-day qualifiers slated on Nov. 19-20 and the sign-in deadline set on Nov. 13 at 6 p.m., also at the MPC, according to tournament director Chris Cuarto with Malaysian Razmee Rawi as the tournament referee.