Balce, Mosqueda steal show in Andrada Cup

MANILA, Philippines - A couple of upsets in the premiere 18-under division rocked the final day of the 25th Andrada Cup age-group tennis championships at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

Maia Balce needed three sets to deny top seed Khim Iglupas the girls’ crown, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 while Dave Mosqueda toppled heavy favorite Jed Olivarez in the boys’ side, 7-5, 6-4.

Balce, a 15-year-old ranked No. 544 in the world, stunned her higher-ranked opponent in the opening set. She dropped the second but still proved steadier in the deciding third set.

The match lasted two hours.

But Iglupas didn’t go home empty-handed yesterday because before she faced Balce for the title she clinched the 16-under title with 6-3, 6-1 win over Chloe Saraza.

Iglupas, another promising 15-year-old, must have spent a lot of energy in that morning match that she just got off to a slow start against Balce.

Still, this year’s result was better than last year’s for Iglupas, who was in the finals of the two age-groups last year and was denied twice.

In the boys’ centerpiece division, Mosquda, 16, wore down the top-seeded Olivarez to clinch the title.

And like Iglupas, Olivarez found some consolation when he clinched the 16-under title earlier in the day, beating Emmanuel Vacalares Jr., 6-2, 6-2, in the tournament named after former Philippine Tennis Association chief Salvador “Buddy” Andrada

Saraza clinched the girls’ 14-under title with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Zethley Mae Alferez while Arthur Craig Pantino, a product of the Philippine Tennis Academy, survived Jacob Martin, 7-5, 6-3, for the boys’ title.

Other winners were Aljohn Talatayod and Denise Bernardo in the boys’ and girls’ 12-under class. Talatayod drove past Angelo Aparte, 6-3, 6-2, while Bernardo crushed Bettina Catoto, 6-0, 6-0.