Mendoza, Capadocia pull thru

MANILA, Philippines - Jurence Mendoza and Marian Jade Capadocia came away with a pair of upset victories to stay in the hunt in the 23rd Mitsubishi International Junior Tennis Championships at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center yesterday.

Mendoza upended fourth seed James Frawley of Australia in a surprisingly easy 6-1, 6-4 romp while Capadocia, 16, saw off No. 14 Klaartje Liebens of Belgium, 6-3, 6-1, to barge into round-of-16 of the tournament which features some of the world’s top rising junior players.

The 15-year-old Mendoza hopes to sustain his surge as he faces the winner between No. 16 Liu Siyu of China and Simeon Rossier of Switzerland, which was being played at presstime yesterday, while Capadocia arranged an interesting duel with No. 3 Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic, who turned back Kanika Vaidya of India, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2.

Mendoza sealed his straight-set win with an ace, faced the crowd then screamed “Come on” after which he shook hands with a stunned, dejected Frawley.

It was Mendoza’s biggest victory in a young career with the Olongapo City vowing to dish out his best shot to get a crack at the crown after crashing out in the opening round in last year’s edition of the annual meet sponsored by Mitsubishi.

“I consider this as my biggest victory here, bigger than when I made the finals of the PCA Open,” said Mendoza referring to his setback to veteran Davis Cupper and former national champion Johnny Arcilla in last year’s PCA Open.

Mendoza cited his stint with the Davis Cup team, which thrashed Pacific Oceania, 5-0, in Iriga City last month, has boosted his confidence and helped raise the level of his game.

“It helped me a lot training with the Davis Cup team in terms of my confidence,” said Mendoza, who also finished in the round-of-16 in a Grade I tournament in Kuching, Malaysia last week before being shown the door by a Korean foe.

“That’s why my goal here is to become champion,” he added.

In other results, unseeded Storm Sanders of Australia recorded the biggest win so far as she bundled out girls’ top seed Elizaveta Kulichkova of Russia, 6-3, 6-3.

Other seeded bets also fell by the wayside with No. 5 Ratnika Batra of India, Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia, No. 12 Barbara Haas of Austria, No. 15 Katherin Ip of Hong Kong and No. 13 Hsu Ching Wen of Chinese Taipei bowing to their respective opponents.

Qualifier Natsuho Arakawa of Japan surprised Batra, 6-1, 6-3; Naiktha Bains of Australia downed Sutjiadi, 6-1, 6-4; Kanami Tsuji of Japan won over Haas, who retired while trailing 0-5 in the first set; Zhang Yuxuan of China swept Ip, 6-0, 6-0, and Mami Adachi of Japan trounced Hsu, 6-3, 6-1.

The rash of upsets left No. 2 Carol Zhao as the highest seeded player left although the Canadian bet needed an extra set to turn back a stubborn Rongrang Leenabanchong of Thailand, 6-1, 1-6, 6-0.

Zhao takes on qualifier Natsumi Chimura of Japan, a 6-2, 6-4 winner over No. 16 Brooke Rischbieth of Australia, in the next round.

Also making it through were No. 9 Abbie Myers of Australia, who edged Louise Oxnevad of New Zealand, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, No. 8 Nao Hibino of Japan, who dumped Tami Grende of Indonesia, 6-0, 6-4, No. 7 Rutuja Bhosale of India, who blanked Dina Karina of Indonesia, 6-0, 6-0, and No. 10 Ayaka Okuno of Japan, who downed Kim Da Hye of Korea, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2.

In boys’ play, No. 10 Kang Ku Keon of Korea overcame a feisty Nattan Benjasupawan of Thailand, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, while Jack Schipanski of Australia added No. 8 Lukas Mugevicius of Lithuania to the list of seeded casualties with a 6-4, 6-4 triumph.