Canizares stuns Olivarez, gains First Gen finals

MANILA, Philippines - Fourth seed Argil Lance Canizares stunned No. 1 Jed Olivarez, 6-2, 6-3, to gain a crack at the boys’ 18-and-under crown while Roxanne Resma and Khim Iglupas forged a duel for the girls’ title in the First Gen-Juntaphil Metro Age Group Tennis Championships at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center yesterday.

Canizares dominated Olivarez early, then sustained his form to complete a surprising romp for a clash with Bryan Otico, who stopped Kyle Parpan, 6-3, 7-6 (5), in the other semis encounter of the premier side of the sixth staging of the annual event presented by First Gen and organized by Junior Tennis Association of the Philippines.

The top-seeded Resma and No. 2 Iglupas, meanwhile, will dispute the girls’ 18-U plum after the former trounced Jana Hernandez, 6-1, 6-1, and the latter dominated Nicole Amistrad, 6-2, 6-2, in the tournament sponsored by Smart Communications, Technifibre Balls, Accel, RCBC and Pet One.

Eurydice Gaspar kept pounding the seeded bets, beating third seed Miguel Vicencio, 4-2, 4-1, to crash into the finals of the 10-unisex class against top seed Jan Trillanes, who repulsed No. 4 Daniel Estanislao III, 5-3, 4-5, 5-3.

Gaspar surprised second seed Alexandra Eala in three in the quarters then mastered Vicencio to gain a crack at the crown.

Mikaela Vicencio also upended fourth-ranked Camille So, 6-4, 6-2, to barge into the girls’ 14-and-under semis against top seed Rafaella Villanueva, who routed Angela Cabral, 6-0, 6-1.

No. 2 Chloe Mae Saraza and Frances Santiago sealed the other semis duel by downing Blanche Lagrisola, 6-1, 6-1, and Nika Alanis, 6-0, 6-2.

No. 1 Arthur Pantino blanked Joshua Austria, 6-0, 6-0, for a semis clash with third ranked Emmanuel Fuellas, who blasted Justin Suarez, 6-3, 6-1, while No. 2 Cenon Gonzales Jr. and third seed Jacob Martin dispute the other finals berth with 6-0, 6-1 and 6-0, 3-0 (ret.) victories over Mimo Tomacruz and Marcus del Rosario, respectively.