JOHNNY Arcilla and Jeson Patrombon toppled their respective rivals in straight-set fashions to roll into the semifinal round and stay on track for a title face-off in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala Brookside Hills Open Tennis Championships at the Brookside Hills Tennis Club in Cainta, Rizal yesterday.
The top-seeded Arcilla, 38, kept his run of lopsided results with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Rodolfo Barquin to arrange a Final Four showdown with third ranked Vicente Anasta, who held off Dheo Talatayod, 6-3, 6-4, in their quarters duel.
Arcilla earlier disposed of Renest Sonsona, 6-2, 6-2, then eased past Chat Conta, 6-1, 6-0, while Anasta downed Norman Gaspar, 6-1, 6-4, then thwarted Joseph Arcilla, 6-2, 7-6(4).
No. 2 Patrombon, on the other hand, clobbered Anthony Alcoseba, 6-0, 6-1, to advance in the lower half of the elite 32-player draw in the weeklong event put up by Palawan Pawnshop and backed by Asiatraders Corp., distributor of Slazenger/Dunlop as official ball.
The 25-year-old Patrombon earlier scored a walkover win over John Sanga but needed an extra set to frustrate Dave Mosqueda, 6-2, 3-6, 10-4.
“The semis cast couldn’t get any better, guaranteeing another thriller of a title showdown among the best of the lot, which should further inspire our young players, especially those competing in the PPS-PEPP age-group,” said Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro.
The last semis slot is being disputed by No.4 Fritz Verdad and fifth seed Noel Damian at presstime.
Second seed Patricia Velez, meanwhile, scored a 1-0 (ret.) win over Faye Dizon to seal a semis duel with Jade Capadocia in the women’s side of the event sponsored by Rep. Jack Duavit, Mayor Keith Nieto, Vitoria Construction, Pasture to Plate, Feeds Edition, Rublou Mall and Allan del Castillo and supported by Greenrose, St. Louis Realty Corp., board member Gongora, East Electric Construction and Ortigas Hospital.
The third seed Capadocia crushed Miles Vitaliano, 6-0, 6-0, in their side of the quarters faceoff.
Slugging it out for the two other semis seat at presstime are top seed Aileen Rogan and Allyssa Bornia, and No. 4 Clarice Patrimonio and Charito Capadocia.