Cheered on lustily by the crowd, the world’s No. 860 Zalameda played true to form against Hong Kong’s No. 1 junior player and wrapped up the match in only 64 minutes.

"I just played well. Chan is a good player but today, she was surprised with my game," said the 19-year-old Zalameda, who earned six circuit points and $1,568 in cash. She defeated top seed Taiwanese Hwang I-Hsuan and No. 7 Korean Kim Hae-Sung on her way to the semifinals where she beat RP’s No. 1 player Czarina Mae Arevalo.

Banking on her solid forehand, Zalameda raced to a 4-1 lead en route to winning the first set in 30 minutes. Chan broke her in the second game of the second set before holding her serve at 2-1. Zalameda won the next game at 2-2 and never looked back.

"It’s a great experience for me to win this tournament before my countrymen. I did well because I got a lot of support from the crowd," said the 5-foot4 Zalameda, born and raised in California. She’s the eldest among three daughters of former RP Davis Cupper Rollie Zalameda.

Chan, ranked No. 46 in the ITF Juniors, tried to put up a good fight but her best wasn’t enough. She has been nursing a cold since last Wednesday and played with a stomach ache.

"I was a little bit disappointed. I got into the final and I was hoping to win againbut I was not fit. After playing nine matches, I don’t want to play anymore. I’m so tired and I lost control of the ball," said the 16-year-old Chan, who received four circuit points and $980 as runnerup.

"Riza played very good today and she deserves to win," said Chan, who beat world’s No. 695 and tournament top seed Korean Lyoo Suh Hee-Sun and No. 3 seed Briton Rebecca Fong to win her first ITF Women’s title last week. She has won five singles and seven doubles junior titles.

Zalameda, a standout from the University of California Los Angeles, will banner the Philippine women’s team in the coming SEA Games. The other members of the team are Fil-American Denise Dy, Fil-German Anja Vanessa Peter and Arevalo.