MANILA, Philippines - Top seed Miles Vitaliano and No. 4 Mia So sustained their fine form and eased out their respective rivals via straight-set wins to seal a semifinal duel in the girls 12-and-under class of Series 56 Palawan Pawnshop President’s ELO Cup Regional Age Group tennis tournament at the Olivarez Sports Center in Parañaque yesterday.
Vitaliano, who drew a first round bye then swept Sabine Cerrado, 6-0, 6-1, in the second round, overpowered top 10-unisex bet Macie Carlos, 6-2, 6-2, while So, who whisked off Riana Quiroz, 6-0, 6-1, and Lyndsay Enriquez, 6-2, 6-1, in the first two rounds, broke Kyrene Espedido once in each set and pounded out a 6-4, 6-4 win. They dispute the first finals berth at 8 a.m. today.
Battling for the two other semis berths at presstime were No. 3 Kryshana Brazal and fifth-ranked Mariana Po, and second seed Lourdes Pe and No. 8 Cindy Nuguit.
Jose Nicolas Cano, meantime, stunned No. 8 Marcus del Rosario, 6-2, 6-2, to clinch the first quarterfinal berth in the boys’ 18-and-U class of the Group 2 tournament sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop and sanctioned by Philta.
Second seed Julian Dayrit swept past Jolo Rusco, 6-0, 6-0, to arrange a Last 16 showdown with Joseph Saraza, who upended Jan Enicame, 6-0, 6-0. Others who advanced were top seed Bryan Decasa, Jose San Buenaventura, Jeremiah Macias III, Vincent Alanis, Cenon Gonzales Jr., Tim Gumban, Justin Suarez, Chris Prulla, Marraphael Teng, Jacob Martin, John Sarabillo, Emmanuel Fuellas, John Tomacruz and Miguel del Rosario.
Daniel Estanislao III hacked out a thrilling 7-6(4), 1-6, 10-8 victory over No. 4 Red Ante to barge into the quarters of the boys’ 12-and-U category along with Samuel Nuguit, who won by default, while top seed Rafael Liangco blanked Sean Bernardo, 6-0, 6-0, to lead the Last 16 cast in the 10-unisex division.