Playing awesome, perfect tennis, the top-ranked Victorino overwhelmed the third-seeded Johnny Arcilla in a dominating 6-0, 6-0 victory before a shocked Saturday crowd that was expecting an exciting match.
So overpowering was the 19-year-old reigning PCA Open champion that Arcilla was taken aback as early as the opening set that set the stage for the ghastly rout. Even Victorino, a Lleyton Hewitt fan, himself was surprised with the lopsided result.
"Nagulat ako dahil hindi ko talaga ine-expect na ganito kadali ang magiging panalo ko," said Victorino, who has trained rigidly in Southwoods for this week-long event under coach Manny Tecson.
"Siguro I was just more focused than him (Arcilla) kaya ganito ang nangyari," he added.
What the Victorino-Arcilla match failed to produce, the duel between top seed Ana Patricia Santos and teen sensation Bien Zoleta of Lucena City did in the women’s side.
Santos, a 22-year-old charmer who is a graduating Home Economics student at the University of the Philippines, overcame an opening set meltdown with a steady baseline game in the final two sets to turn back Zoleta, 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-1, in a game that lasted two hours and five minutes.
Taking on Lucena City-based Zoleta, the youngest participant in the tournament at 13 years old, for the first time, Santos blew a 6-4 lead in the first set tiebreak with a double fault to trail by a set.
From there, the beauteous, long-legged Federation Cup-bound netter was a different person as she dazzled the youthful Zoleta with an array of shots to take control and the game.
"I was playing so tight in the first set because I was really trying to adjust to her (Zoleta) game," said Santos, who is a daughter of former sports editor, Vergel. "Fortunately I kept my cool and got my game going in the last two sets."
Next stop for Arcilla is No. 2 Adelo Abadia, who bucked pain from his right elbow by edging power-hitting Alexander Lazaro, 7-5, 7-5, while Santos faces fellow Fed Cupper Alyssa Labay, a 6-4, 6-1 winner over No. 8 Michelle Panis.