PCA Open begins today

The 21st Philippine Columbian Association (PCA) Tennis Championships gets underway today with the 64-man main draw seeing action beginning at 9 a.m. at the PCA outdoor courts.

Defending champion and top seed Johnny Arcilla, winner of the Escudero, Mandaue and Bacolod Open this year, will face Arnel dela Cruz at 1 p.m.

Arcilla is expected to face tough challenge from fellow Davis Cuppers Adelo Abadia, Joseph Victorino and Michael Mora III.

Abadia lost to Arcilla in the finals last year while Mora teamed up with Arcilla to win the doubles title.

The PCA Open, which is the longest-running netfest in the country, is presented by Dunlop and Accel with support from Chowking, Photokina, PBCOM, Coca-Cola, San Miguel Corporation, PVL Restaurant-Little Lawrence, Toby’s, Copacabana, Trans Asia Power and The STAR.

Meanwhile, Lourelu Alburo outclassed Carlito Rojo, 8-0, and Antonio Quiza defeated Ronnie Ogena, 8-4, last Thursday to join six other qualifiers.

Early qualifiers were Derrick Santos, Garizaldy Caabay, Jandrick de Castro, Menandro Econg, Dindo Almeda and Joseph Arcilla.