MANILA, Philippines – Idinaan sa tiyaga ni Francis Casey Alcantara ang kanyang pagpasok sa quarterfinals nang kunin ang 7-6 (1), 6-1 panalo laban kay Liang Wen Chun ng Taipei sa 34th Philippine Columbian Association (PCA) Open-ITF Men’s Futures 2 kahapon sa PCA’s Plaza Dilao clay courts sa Paco, Manila.
Matapos sibakin si fifth seed Vinayak Sharma Kaza ng India, 6-2, 7-6 (3), bumangon naman ang 23-anyos na si Alcantara, dating Australian Open juniors doubles title-holder, mula sa 2-5 pagkakaiwan sa first set para resbakan si Liang.
“I was thinking to play relax because I know I can beat him (Liang), but I was too relax for my own good,” sabi ni Alcantara, naglaro ng college tennis sa US NCAA Division team na Pepperdine.
Muling ginamit ng veteran Davis Cupper ang kanyang taktika sa second set para tuluyan nang patalsikin ang Taiwanese.
Makakatapat ni Alcantara sa quarterfinals si top seed Enrique Lopez-Perez ng Spain na sumibak kay Filipino Johnny Arcilla, 6-4, 6-3.
“We played a friendly game just a few days ago and he’s strong at everything,” ani Alcantara kay Lopez-Perez, ang World No. 353.
“I’m very glad with the exposure that our players are getting from these ITF Futures tournaments. This will help them in representing the country in future international team competitions such as Davis Cup, SEA Games and Asian Games,” wika ni Lhuillier.
Samantala, tinalo ni Japanese Katsuki Nagao si No. 2 Harry Bourchier ng Asutralia, 6-3, 6-2, para itakda ang kanilang banggaan sa quarterfinals ni No. 6 Makoto Ochi, ang first leg champion na bumigo kay Kazuya Tamura, 6-7(1), 7-6(2), 6-1.
Umabante din sa quarterfinals si No. 8 Yu Cheng Yu matapos patumbahin si Japanese Issel Okamura, 6-3, 6-2.