ALEXA Milliam bested a tough field and racked up two titles while Brent So and Joss Po shared the MVP honors in the boys’ side of the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala Brookside Hills regional age-group tennis tournament at the Brookside Hills Tennis Club in Cainta, Rizal last Thursday.
Milliam, the 14-year-old rising star from Pontevedra, Negros, struggled past Jenaila Prulla of Bulacan, 6-3, 6-4, to rule her age division then toppled Marie Cruz, 6-2, 6-3, to add the 16-U plum and clinch the MVP honors in the Group 2 tournament sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop headed by president/CEO Bobby Castro and presented by Dunlop as official ball.
So, from San Juan City,, completed a rare romp, taking the boys’ 12-U title without dropping a game, capping his exploits with a win over Ray Solo, while Po, from Makati, fended off Novak Brazal, 4-1, 5-3, to snare the 10-unisex diadem in the week-long tournament sanctioned by the United Tennis Philippines, made up of PPS-PEPP< Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson, Toby’s, Dunlop, Slazenger and B-Meg.
In other results, Bulacan’s Jenailla Prulla took the girls’ 18-U title with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Bettina Bautista while Loucas Fernandez copped the boys’ crown with a 6-1, 6-0 rout of top seed Tim Gumban; Caloocan’s Daniel Estanislao crushed Raphael Liangco, 6-2, 6-3, to pocket the boys’ 16-U title; Makati’s Nicolas Katigbak bagged the 14-U diadem with a thrilling 4-6, 6-3, 10-4 reversal over second seed Rafael Mendoza; and Anna Bloom, also from Makati, whipped Maxine Favis, 6-0, 6-4, to bag the girls’ 12-U title.
Milliam actually added two more titles in the doubles, teaming up with Prulla twice to edge Kryshana Brazal and Jastine Maneja, 8-5, in the 14-U finals, and thwart Isabelle Uy and Miles Vitaliano, 8-4, in the 18-U championship.
Red Ante and Gumban won the 18-U crown with an 8-4 victory over Gabby Avila and Marcus Guinoo; Job Caburian and Jovanie Pilares nipped Ariel Alapoop and Dairek Oligo, 8-6, in the 14-U finals; while Brazal and Samuel Davila booked the 10-U plum with an 8-0 rout of Cyrus Barcinal and Ethan Marcos.