Dy, Dandan lose steam in jr tennis

Denise Dy fell short of her comeback bid and bowed to Chang Kai Chen of Chinese Taipei while Kyle Dandan succumbed to Slovenian Borut Puc’s power serves to end the Philippines’ campaign in the quarterfinals of the 18th Mitsubishi Lancer ITF Junior Circuit at the Rizal Tennis Center yesterday.

Playing under sweltering heat, Dy struggled early but fought her way back with a brilliant performance in the second set, only to struggle in the decider as she dropped a 4-6, 6-0, 2-6 decision to the vastly improved Chang in a match that lasted two hours.

The 13th ranked Dandan, on the other hand, had no answer to unseeded Puc’s big serves as he took a 2-6, 3-6 setback that snapped his quest for a big finish on his last year in the junior tour.

"He served really big," said Dandan, who stunned No. 3 Peng Hsien Ying of Chinese Taipei the other day, referring to the taller Puc, ranked a far 211th in the world.

Dy, backed by the Philippine Airlines and Oscar Hilado, said the third-ranked Chang has improved since beating her, 7-6, 6-3, in this same event last year.

"It’s pretty hard playing her, she’s not easy to beat," said Dy, who humbled Thai No. 7 Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, 6-2, 7-5, in Thursday’s round-of-16.

Trailing 0-4 in the opening set, Dy fought her way back by breaking Chang in the sixth game, using her solid baseline play as she took four of the next five games to close the gap at 4-5.

Dy had her chance of knotting the count at 5-all when she forced a deuce and then led in the 10th game with a pair of winners but Chang countered with winners of her own to seize the first set.

"I had my chance there but I wasn’t able to capitalize on it," said Dy.

But Dy bounced back and swept the Taiwanese instead in the second set.

But that proved to be Dy’s last stand as Chang unloaded crisp forehand and solid backhand returns to dominate the Fil-Am in the third set.

Chang, who turned only 16 last Jan. 13, said it was her determination to get back at Dy that keyed her win.

"She (Dy) beat me last year, I just want to beat her that’s why I gave my best," said Chang, who is No. 1in both the 16-and-under and 18-and-under brackets back home.

Chang takes on No. 10 Tyra Calderwood of Australia, who stopped Yang Zijun of Hong Kong, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, while Puc faces top seed John Smith also of Australia, a 6-3, 1-0 (ret.) winner over countryman No. 6 Andrew Thomas in today’s semifinals.

Another Aussie, No. 12 Bernard Tomic, humbled Thai No. 4 Kittipong Wachiramanow, 6-3, 2-6, while unseeded Croat Silvio Dadic surprised Aussie No. 2 Stephen Donald, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, to likewise advance in this event staking precious ITF points.

The day’s biggest triumph, however, came in the girls’ side after No. 8 Zhang Ling shocked World No. 11 and top pick Sacha Jones of New Zealand, 6-4, 7-6 (5).