Balce barges into semis; Capadocia stuns Ong

MANILA, Philippines - Third seed Maia Balce rolled past Rafaella Villanueva, 6-2, 6-0, to clinch the first semifinal berth in the girls’ 14-and-under singles of the 23rd Andrada Cup Group I tennis tournament at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center yesterday.

Balce and Villanueva scored a pair of walkover wins earlier but the former dominated the latter in their second round match to advance ahead of everybody else in the week-long tournament kicking off the Philippine Tennis Association’s series of junior tournaments for the year.

Charito Capadocia provided the opening day sparks as she bundled out second seed Dominique Ong, 6-1, 6-0, for a second round clash with Chloe Saraza, who repulsed Chrislyn Sioson in a thrilling 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 victory.

No. 4 Ingrid Gonzales toppled Carla Arreza, 6-1, 6-2, to arrange a quarters match with Francesca Santiago, who swamped Monica Cruz, 6-2, 6-1, while Caitlin Tordesillas outlasted Bianca Catoto in the first set before completing a 7-6 (3), 6-2 triumph in their own side of the duel in the tournament held in honor of Philippine Sports Commission’s Buddy Andrada.

Andrea Amistad whipped Camille So, 6-1, 6-0, but drew top seed Erika Manduriao in the next round with the winner set to face Tordesillas for a berth in the semis.

In 18-and-under boys singles, Hans Angelo Asistio downed Ivan Moses Gonzales, 6-2, 6-2, while Jose Nicholas Cano edged Marc Daryl Agner, 6-3, 2-6, 10-8, to advance to the second round against second seed Betto Orendain and fourth pick Romnee Kyle Joseph, respectively.

Also advancing in the premier class were Jeremiah Latorre, who downed Joachim Samson, 6-1, 6-1, Eric Olivarez Jr., who turned back Prince Maverick Salvacion, 6-3, 3-6, 10-6, Christian San Andres, who edged David Vorbeck, 6-7 (5), 6-1, 10-3, Marcen Gonzales, who trounced Enrique Ferrer, 6-3, 7-5, and Stefan Suarez, who blanked Cenon Gonzales Jr., 6-0, 6-0.