No. 3 seed Gonzales leads semis cast in age-group tennis

MANILA, Philippines -- Marcen Gonzales, Alester Mgalit and Chris Justin Prulla routed their respective opponents to barge into the semifinals of the boys' 18-and-under division in the fifth PSC-Philta National age-group tennis tournament at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center on Sunday.

Gonzales, the highest remaining seed standing at No. 2, manhandled No. 6 Vincent Alanis, 6-3, 6-0, while Magalit, who was reponsible for booting out No. 3 Andrew Joshua Cano in the round-of-16, smashed Romnee Kyle Joseph, 6-2, 6-3, to forge a semis showdown in this meet bankrolled by the PSC and sanctioned by Philta.

No. 4 Frulla, for his part, ended the upset-frenzy of Claudio Canlas, who took out No. 5 Jose Nicolas Cano in the opening round, with a 6-1 6-3 triumph that set him up against Paolo So, who didn't break a sweat following a no-show by top seed John Bryan de Casa.

In the boys' 14-and-under section, top pick Marcus del Rosario overcame a fiesty Lee Yoon, Hak, 2-6, 6-4, 10-7, to arrange a semis match with No. 3 Jed Labasano, a 6-3, 6-2 winner over No. 5 Jan Harold Trillanes.

No. 2 Stephan Lhuillier slammed No. 6 Joshua Austria, 6-3, 6-2, and No. 4 Aljohn Talatayod trounced Johan Singh, 6-1, 6-4, to arrange a semis duel in this tournament backed by Asiatraders Corp and Dunlop Fort All Court Balls.

No. 1 Miguel Luis Vicencio smashed Juaquin de Leon, 4-2, 4-0, and No. 2 Macie Carlos waylaid Brent So, 4-1, 4-1, to lead the march of the favorites in the 10-and-under quarterfinals.
Also surging through were No. 7 Jose Tomas Bernardo, who downed Michael Dylan Jimenez, 5-4 (6), 4-2, No. 3 Edgardo Angara, who blanked Justine Maneja, 4-0, 4-0, No. 8 James Rohan Cruz, who outclassed Hailey Ella Agustin, 4-0, 4-0, No. 6 Kryshana Brazal, who bested Marcus Andrei Ginoo, 4-1, 4-2, No. 4 Marc Andrei Jarata, who crushed Sarah Zhang and No. 5 Samuel Nuguit, who turned back Jude Hidalgo, 5-4(2), 4-1.

In girls' 16-under play, seeds Nikki Ong and Coleen Sioson walloped Jessica Zhang and Bianca Catoto with identical 6-0, 6-0 scores barge into the round-of-eight where they will clash with No. 8 Bettina Bautista, who overwhelmed Blanche Lagrisola, 6-1, 6-2, and Nol. 5 Rafaella Villanueva, who thrashed Alexis Bangayan, 6-0, 6-2.

Frances Angelica Santiago quashed Mikaela Vicencio, 6-0, 6-0, No. 7 Nikka Alanis blasted Patricia Corporal, 6-1, 6-1, No. 6 Melanie Faye Dizon bashed Jackie Tan Ho, 6-2, 6-0, and unranked Nicole Amistad, who shocked No. 4 Shaira Hope Rivera, 6-4, 6-4, to all move ahead.
No. 7 Jake Martin smothered Kurt Molina, 6-0, 6-1, to emerge the first player into the boys' 16-and-under quarters.

In the girls' 12-and-under group, No. 1 Alexan Eala overpowered Julia Ignacio, 6-0, 6-0, while No. 2 Miles Vitaliano defeated Sarah Zhang, 6-1, 6-0, to also leapfrog to the quarters.

There, they will be joined by Jhastine Ballado, who clubbed Patricia Lim, 6-1, 6-1,No. 4 Gabby Zoleta, who mugged Bettina Catoto, 6-1, 6-3, Justine Manejo, who eliminated Lila Salvacion, 6-3, 6-1, Macie Carlos, ousted Sacha Singh,  6-1, 6-0, No. 3 Denise Bernardo, who survived Jenelyn Rigos, 7-5, 1-6, 10-6, and Kheryshana Brazal, who nipped Alexie Jarata, 6-0, 6-0.