World Junior Tennis Qualifiers: Jurence shines but RP falters

MANILA, Philippines - Olongapo National High School sophomore Jurence Mendoza brought down three highly ranked Asian opponents in singles play but couldn’t lift the Philippines out of a near cellar finish at the Asia/Oceania World Junior Tennis final qualifiers in Anquing, China, recently.

Mendoza, 14, thrashed Malaysia’s Colin Wong, 6-3, 6-2, Singapore’s Rohan Kamdar, 6-4, 6-3, and Sri Lanka’s Sharmai Dissanakaye, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, to fortify his No. 8 spot in the Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) rankings for 14-and-under boys.

As a team, the Philippines barely escaped last place by defeating Malaysia, 3-0. Mendoza led the charge with Betto Orendain winning the other singles match, 6-3, 6-1, over Ahmed Shamsuddin. Orendain and Kyle Parpan then combined to defeat Shamsuddin and Zhe Han Low, 6-1, 6-3, in doubles for the sweep.

Orendain, 14, is ranked No. 60 in the ATF while Parpan, 14, is ranked No. 14 by the Philippine Tennis Association in the 14-and-under category. Both Orendain and Parpan are La Salle Greenhills students. Orendain is entering Grade 7 while Parpan is a high school freshman.

In Anquing, the Philippines was blanked by Chinese-Taipei and Korea and lost 2-1 ties to Singapore and Sri Lanka.

Coach Roland Kraut said the setbacks to Singapore and Sri Lanka were cliffhangers. Against Singapore, Orendain lost to Kaiyi Lee, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. A win would’ve clinched the tie for the Philippines. Against Sri Lanka, Mendoza and Orendain teamed up to lose a heartbreaker to Dissanakaye and Nishangan Nadaraja, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. A win would’ve also clinched it for the Philippines.

The 16-nation competition was the final Asia/Oceania qualifiers with the top four – Australia, China, Japan and Korea – advancing to the World Junior Group to be held in the Czech Republic this August. The bottom three – Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Syria – were relegated to the pre-qualifying tournament next year.

Kraut said Mendoza was a bright spot for the Philippines and in the Korea tie, battled down to the wire before losing 6-2, 7-6, to ATF No. 1 Geon Jun Shin.

 “Our consolation was we saw the level of our top junior player Jurence who defeated several ATF ranked players like No. 7 Colin Wang, No. 5 Sharmai Dissanakaye and No. 22 Rohan Kamdar,” said Kraut, the country’s Junior Davis Cup coach the last three years. “It shows that having only one solid player doesn’t make a good team. Jurence had three wins in singles but we lost two important ties to Singapore and Sri Lanka. If three players are given the chance to compete in ATF and ITF tournaments abroad like Jurence and if they get the needed exposure, wins and rankings, then we can be competitive as a nation.”

Kraut said Mendoza showed an aggressive, attacking style in Anquing. “He understood that he can win points at the net instead of just overhitting at the baseline,” noted Kraut. “He had good serves against Sri Lanka and needs to keep this up to get free points instead of grinding the whole service game. He also needs to play doubles more. He has no court sense in doubles yet.”

Kraut said Mendoza has the ability to control the points with his forehand and is learning to counter-attack with the backhand. What he must work on is developing a backhand approach, a backhand volley and a put-away volley and overhead.

Kraut admitted the showing was a disappointment, winding up 15th of 16. “After getting beaten so badly, after losing to Singapore and Sri Lanka, I talked to the boys and asked, what do you do now? Do you simply say ‘nice try’ or ‘you did your best’? Do you go back home and sulk? I told them this experience will bring out what kind of players they really are, once they get back home. They should say their best was not enough, that they need to train harder, play more tournaments abroad and be more serious.”

Kraut said the players shouldn’t be satisfied making it to the Philippine team. “We have to perform,” he continued. “Prepare and train properly, be mentally stable and perform. I challenged them. Let’s see if they are really championship material.”

As for Orendain, Kraut said he must take advantage of his 5-11 height. “When coming into the net, Betto must be aggressive and confident,” he went on. “He becomes too defensive when his backhand is attacked. But he has a good forehand when in position and a good service when he hits it at the highest point.”

Because of his height, Betto has the potential to intimidate his opponents. He has to also work on his conditioning because he cramped after his 6-3, 6-0 loss to Kuan Yi Lee of Chinese-Taipei.”

Kraut said Parpan also cramped after losing a three-setter to Nadaraja of Sri Lanka. “He must be more mentally prepared,” said Kraut. “He was 5-4 up then 5-6 down in the first set against Sri Lanka, gave away both service games with three double faults each and an error. But he showed good confidence on the court with an aggressive forehand.” Parpan lost to Nadaraja, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1.