Aces move safely to Toby's Last 16

Manila, Philippines - Fancied Dheo Talatayod and Alberto Villamor knocked off their respective rivals with relative ease to lead the Last 16 cast in the boys’ 18-under class in the Toby’s-Prince Summer Tennis Festival at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

Talatayod, the top seeded bet coming off a scrambling victory in last week’s First Gen/Juntaphil Metro Age tilt, blanked Joseph Abellanosa, 6-0, 6-0, to set up a duel with Mark Conception, a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Jed Panghulan.

The No. 2 Villamor, on the other hand, dropped just one game to oust Kevin Espedidio, 6-0, 6-1, in the lower half of the draw in the premier division of the weeklong event sponsored by Toby’s Sports and Prince.

Others who advanced in the tournament, backed by Futures Tennis Foundation, Adidas, Nike, Thermos, Equipe, Fruit Magic, SGM Bikes, Mellow Touch 94.7 and Total Fitness, were Kyle Joseph, Miguel Belda, Romeo Dimakiling, Lexi Villanueva, Hans Asistio, Carlos Oblea, Gabriel Gutierrez and Mark Gulfo.

In the 16-under category, the top ranked Joseph romped off with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Carl Natividad to arrange a Last 16 clash with John Rudas, who disposed of Darwin Ognita, 6-3, 6-2.

Joining them in the next round were Christian San Andres, LA Canizares, Andrew Cano, Jeremiah Latorre, Ralph Fernandez, Kyle Parpan and second ranked Asistio, who prevailed over Michael de Veras, 6-1, 6-0.

Jan Rodriguez and Vince Salas posted a pair of 6-0, 6-0 routs over Rodolfo Gabaldon III and Arthur Saulong to reach the third round of the boys’ 14-under play along with Elijah Pangilinan. Mikio Shimomura, Austin delos Santos, Tim Becker and Brysl Libao.

Patricia Corporal, meanwhile, scored a walkover win over second seed Blanche Lagrisola for a third round duel with Hiromasa Ishikawa, who beat Lourdez Pe, 6-1, 6-1, in the 10-unisex division.

Others who gained Last 16 seats were Maxine Martin, Giou Pinzon, Maverick Legaspi, Enrique Jugo, Philippe Coteron, Aljon Talatayod, John Llira, Ryotoro Shimomura, Joseph Anida and Alexander Bulilan.