Yoon bundles out compatriot

Top seed Yoon Yong-Il of South Korea made short work of compatriot Chung Hee-seok, 6-3, 6-3, yesterday to lead the semifinals cast in the $15,000 International Tennis Federation-Philippine Men’s Futures Week 1 at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

Yoon, ranked 156th in the world and winner of two legs over the last two years, never got into trouble against Chung, who won the PCA Open crown at the Philippine Columbian courts last July. Up next for Yoon is sixth seed Luben Pampoulov of Austria.

The 19-year-old Pampoulov, best-remembered for reaching the round-of-16 of the 1998 US Open, made it to the final four following an equally-convincing 6-4, 6-3 victory against Lukasz Kubot of Poland.

Another Austrian netter, third seed and world No. 343 Zbynek Mlynarik, made it to the semis the hard way, needing two tiebreaks to beat fifth seed Donovan September of South Africa, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5). September beat the Philippines’ Adelo Abadia, 7-5, 6-4, last Wednesday.

With the hard-earned victory over September, Mlynarik earned an exciting semifinal encounter with second seed Danai Udomchoke of Thailand, who watched from the sidelines as Mlynarik struggled against his gritty South African opponent.

Udomchoke, a 19-year-old Davis Cup veteran who won two legs in the $25,000 India Satellite last June, downed American qualifier Jonathan Beardsley, 6-3, 6-4, to keep his hopes alive in the tournament which offers $1,950 and 12 ATP points to the singles champion.

The three other Filipino entries – Michael Mora, Rolando Ruel, Jr. and Johnny Arcilla – failed to get past the opening round. Mora bowed to Chung, 6-1, 6-4; Ruel lost to Abadia, 7-6 (6), 6-2; and Arcilla, the country’s top player, fell to Ashley Fisher of Austria, 6-3, 7-6 (4). Fisher eventually lost to Udomchoke, 6-3, 6-2, in the second round.

In doubles, Dominic Marafiote of Australia and Lee Radovanovich of New Zealand ousted the second-seeded pair of Johan Du Randt and Willem Petrus Meyer of South Africa, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), to advance into the semis of the event being supported by the ITF Grand Slam Development Fund, Phinma Group of Companies, Wilson Balls, Manila Midtown Hotel, Viva Mineral Water and the Philippine Sports Commission.