No. 1 Filipino Tennielle Madis defeated No. 4 Russian Alexandra Cheishvili, 6-0, 6-4, Saturday to reach the girls singles final in the Coca-Cola PHILTA International Juniors 2 at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
The 17-year-old from M’lang, North Cotabato will face second seed and first leg champion Jiyun Oh.
Oh, winner in a J60 event in Singapore last January, prevailed over Filipino No. 3 Stefi Marithe Aludo, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1, in the other semifinal match.
“Tenny (Madis) really played very, very well. She’s on fire. The pressure’s there but she was able to handle it,” said SEA Games medalist and former Davis Cupper Bobbie Angelo, who is training Madis and Aludo at the Philippine Tennis Academy.
“About Stefi, she did her best, coming back in the second set. But her opponent performed better in the third set,” he added.
Madis is seeking a sixth singles title this year. Her other victories were at the J30 PHINMA Week 1 and 2 in Makati City in July and J60 events in Colombo (Sri Lanka) in September, Nonthaburi (Thailand) in October and Changhua City Chinese Taipei (November). She also has three doubles titles with Aludo.
Meanwhile, top seed Canadian Jay Lin Gibson rallied past Korean Fu Wang Choi, 6-4, 3-6, 6-0, to reach the boys singles final of the ITF J60 event supported by official ball Technifibre.
“I feel quite good, an improvement from the first week. I have more confidence hitting the balls now,” said the 16-year-old Gibson, who will face seventh seed Japanese Koki Nara.
Nara, who eliminated Gibson, 7-5, 6-4, in the first leg quarterfinals, ousted
second seed Lin Hao-Yu of Chinese Taipei, 6-3, 6-0, in the Final Four.
“He (Nara) knows my game, hopefully, I’ll win,” said the Shanghai-based Gibson, whose mother is a Chinese.
