ALCANTARA

Francis Casey Alcantara survived the spirited challenge of Japanese Soichiro Moritani in the first set before lowering the boom in the second frame to complete a 6-4, 6-0 win and advance to the semis of the Phinma International Juniors Week 2 Thursday at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

Alcantara, winner of Week 1 in this Grade 4 event sponsored by the Phinma Group of Companies, started tentatively but when he got his rhythm, there was no stopping him as he produced pin-point shots that completely disarmed his rival.

In the semis, Alcantara will face either third seed Nicha Kadchapanan of Thailand or eighth seed Kaichi Uchida of Japan.

While Alcantara continued to dazzle his supporters, Clarice Patrimonio’s amazing run was halted by Week 1 champion and fourth seed Tian Ran of China, 6-2, 6-0.

The daughter of PBA four-time MVP winner Alvin Patrimonio, Clarice put on a brave fight but the Chinese simply outclassed and outhit her.

Despite her defeat, Clarice was happy with her performance as she claimed the scalps of higher-ranked Nattawadee Kotcha of Thailand, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 and upsetting fifth pick Rana Sherif Ahmed of Egypt, 6-1, 76 (3).

Tian’s win set her up a semis date with second seed Yuki Ito of Japan, a 7-5, 6-4 winner over Chinese qualifier Zhao Qianqian.

Top seed Zhu Lin of China, meanwhile, escaped past eighth pick Anna Tyulpa of Russia, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2, for the other semifinal duel with Rona Lavian of Israel, a 6-2, 1-6, 7-5 winner over Justine De Sutter of Belgium.

Alcantara was broken twice in the first set – no thanks to four double faults. But he picked up his momentum after shattering a 3-3 count.