Resma cruises to Andrada Cup quarters

MANILA, Philippines - Roxanne Resma bucked a shaky stint in the early going then went full throttle to sweep Monica Therese Cruz, 6-4, 6-0, and annex a quarterfinal seat in the girls’ 16-and-under singles of the 24th Andrada Cup tennis tournament at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Courts yesterday.

The top-seeded Resma, seeking a follow-up to her rousing victory in the recent PSC-Philta netfest, broke Cruz once in the opening frame then dominated her rival with a superb all-around game in the second to complete the straight-set victory and book the first Last 8 slot with second seed Maia Balce, No. 3 Nicole Amistad and fourth ranked Isabelle Orteza still chasing the other berths at presstime.

Top seed Diego Dayrit booted out Rafael Tomblin, 6-0, 5-0 (ret.), while No. 2 Jan Harold Trillanes routed Angelica Alcala, 6-0, 6-0, as the fancied bets breezed through the quarters of the 10-unisex category of the event sponsored by Dunlop Fort All Court Balls, Philippine Sports Commission, First Solid Group, St. Luke’s Medical Center and Sagip Bayan Foundation.

Third ranked Alexandra Eala blasted Prince Nadera, 6-2, 6-0, to arrange a Last 8 duel with No. 8 Daniel Estanislao III, who whitewashed Adam Sujica, 6-0, 6-0, while fourth seed Cesar Salimbangon held off Rainer Selmar, 6-1, 7-6(6), to set a showdown with Alfmed Doloroso, who subdued Julius Gonzales, 6-3, 6-1.

Dayrit goes for a semis seat against No. 7 Miguel Luis Vicencio, who blanked Joyce Bautista, 6-0, 6-0, while Trillanes will take on Jose Thomas Bernardo, who scored a walkover win over Alessi Villanueva in the tournament staged in honor of Philippine sports commissioner Buddy Andrada.

Dayrit also moved into the quarters in the boys’ 12-and-under with a 6-0, 6-2 romp over Salimbangon.

No. 1 Marcen Gonzales also posted a straight-set 6-3, 6-2 win over John Otico to set a third round clash with Jerome Romualdez, who demolished Jaffary Cariga, 6-1, 6-3, while Paolo So and Brysl Libao gained with a pair of tough 7-6(2), 7-5 and 7-6(5), 6-4 victories over Emmanuel Vacalares Jr. and Joel Atienza, respectively, in the boys’ 16-and-under class.