MANILA, Philippines - Marcen Gonzales bucked a shaky opener to bundle out Renzo de Ocampo, 6-4, 6-0, while Julian Dayrit and Emmanuel Fuellas turned back their respective rivals to advance in the boys’ premier division of the 2014 First Gen-Juntaphil Metro Age Group Tennis Championships at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center yesterday.
Gonzales, one of the country’s rising stars, struggled in the early going but went on to break de Ocampo once in the first set before hitting his stride in the next to complete a straight-set win in the 18-and-under singles.
Dayrit and Fuellas joined Gonzales in the next round with the former holding Jio Chakas, 6-4, 6-3, and the latter repulsing Ricarte Santos, 6-4, 6-4. Also advancing were Albather Rosales, Rodolfo Barquin, Marc Agner and Chris Prulla.
Rosales thumped Lorenzo Cruz, 6-1, 6-2; Barquin clipped Vincent Alanis, 6-4, 6-1; Agner trounced Carl Abadia, 6-0, 6-3; and Prulla routed Al Burahan, 6-1, 6-0, in the Group I tournament sponsored by First Gen Corp. and organized by Juntaphil.
Angela Cabaral blanked Katrina Penaflor, 6-0, 6-0, in the girls’ 18-and-U play while Gea Chakas turned back Michal Puyot, 6-3, 5-7 (10-6), in the girls’ 12-and-U section of the week-long event sanctioned by the Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) and sponsored by Wilson as the official ball.