Casey advances in Wimby juniors

MANILA, Philippines - Francis Casey Alcantara repulsed unranked Gregoire Barrere of France, 6-1, 1-6, 11-9, to advance to the second round of the Wimbledon Juniors Championships at The All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London last Monday.

Alcantara, the 2009 Australian Open juniors doubles champion, dominated his French rival in the opening set but lost his focus in the second, enabling Barrere to force a deciding set.

But the 18-year-old Filipino toughened up in the third frame to outlast Barrere and set up a second round duel with Facundo Arguello.

Alcantara unloaded six aces and a total of 39 winners in the two-hour encounter.

Arguello, meanwhile, pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the day, stunning No. 15 Roberto Quiroz, 6-2, 0-6, 6-3.

Raymond Sarmiento, a Fil-Am who is representing the US, also advanced with a come-from-behind 6-7 (2), 6-2, 7-5 win over Japanese Yasutaka Uchiyama. He faces Australian James Duckworth in the second round.

Alcantara, meanwhile, will team up with Oliver Golding of Great Britain when they take on Sarmiento and Dennis Kudla of the US in the first round of the boys’ doubles.

Another Filipino, Jeson Patrombon, hopes to bounce back from a heartbreaking loss in the singles as he teams up with Tunisian Ahmed Triki against No. 2 Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia Herzegovina and Mate Pavic of Croatia.