Changing of guard in Future Stars

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines will be represented by Miles Vitaliano in the U14 division and Shaira Rivera in the U16 class at the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Future Stars tournament in Singapore next month as the two prodigies take over from Monica Cruz and Rafaella Villanueva who wore the national colors in the same competition last year.

The Future Stars program was introduced as an adjunct event of the WTA Finals hosted for the first time by Singapore last year. WTA Finals tournament director and Asia Pacific vice president Melissa Pine said the world’s top female players will once more make themselves available to mentor this year’s Future Stars qualifiers from 17 countries participating in the grassroots initiative. The WTA Finals is the culminating tournament of the world tour, gathering the top eight singles players and top eight doubles teams to battle in a round-robin format.

Vitaliano is a Grade 8 student at the Lagro High School in Novaliches. In 2013, she was runner-up at the Milo International U12 meet in Selangor and last year, played in the U12 division of the Southeast Asian Juniors in Singapore. Vitaliano’s coach is her father Gerry and regular hitting partner and assistant coach is her cousin Dennis, a former UP varsity player now coach of Xavier School and assistant coach of the UP men’s team. She beat Mikaela Vicencio, 7-6, 6-0, in the U14 final at the Olivarez Cup last month to book the ticket to Singapore.

“I heard about the great time the participants had last year at the WTA Finals and I’m very excited that I will have that opportunity this year,” said Vitaliano. The WTA event will be held on Oct. 23-Nov. 1.

Rivera, a policeman’s daughter from Ozamis, will make her international debut in Singapore. She is a scholar player of the Philippine Tennis Academy supported by Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) chairman Jean Henri Lhuillier, Rommie Chan, Oscar Hilado and Hanky Lee. A student of the La Salle Zobel Night School, Rivera is unbeaten in the U16 category since February and has won five straight championships, including the Group 1 Juntaphil in May. She took out Cruz, 6-4, 6-1, in the U16 final of the Olivarez Cup to clinch the Future Stars spot.

Last year, Cruz posted a 3-2 record in the U14 class of the Future Stars. She disposed of Laos’ Papou Phothisomephone, 6-0, 6-0, Malaysia’s Sufana Sofea, 6-2, 6-3 and Hong Kong’s Justine Leong, 6-2, 4-6, 10-4, but lost to China’s Zhouma Ni Ma, 6-4, 6-4 and Japan’s Yuki Ando, 6-1, 6-4. Thailand’s Thasaporn Naklo defeated Zhouma, 6-7, 6-4, 10-2, in the semifinals and Ando, 5-7, 6-3, 10-4, in the final for the championship. Villanueva had a 1-4 mark in the U16, trimming Singapore’s Nicole Tan, 6-3, 4-6, 10-3, but bowing to China’s Siqi Cao, 6-1, 6-0, Indonesia’s Rifanty Kahfiany, 6-0, 6-0, Thailand’s Manita Bootsarakomvisit, 6-3, 6-0 and Japan’s Eri Shimuzu, 6-1, 6-2. India’s Karman Kaur Thandi won the U16 crown.

Philta vice president Randy Villanueva said last year’s experience at the WTA Finals was unforgettable. He attended the event with Lhuillier, PSC commissioner Buddy Andrada and former Philta president Lito Villanueva.

“We were invited to witness the semifinals and final,” said Villanueva. “They gave us access to the Racquet Club, a world-class hospitality lounge where officials from other federations around the world, businessmen, VIPs and legends like Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Billie Jean King visited. The opening ceremony was fantastic with hi-tech laser lights. I was surprised at how popular Serena Williams is. I think her popularity was the same as Maria Sharapova’s. My favorite match was the final between Simona Halep and Serena. In the round-robin stage, Serena lost to Simona quite badly. In the final, Serena was determined and serious like Ronda Rousey before an MMA match. She got back at Simona and won the title.”

Villanueva said his daughter Rafaella was overwhelmed by the older players in the U16 division. “She was the youngest player at 14 but I’m proud she beat the Singapore No. 1 who has an ITF world junior ranking,” he said. “She is so passionate with her tennis and follows the WTA stars and we didn’t expect her to be that up close with the top eight women players in the world. Rafa got to meet Serena who gave her an autographed racket.”

Pine and Fil-Am colleague Mark Clemente were in Manila recently to conduct the sixth WTA Future Stars Kids’ Clinic at the Valle Verde Country Club. The free one-hour session was attended by about 20 kids in the 12 to 14-age group. “We’re so thankful to have the support of Philta, especially with regard to junior player development and promotion of the WTA Finals and WTA Future Stars program,” said Clemente. “I personally want to share my thanks and I’m glad to see so many young Filipino players participating in tennis. I hope events like the clinic and programs like Future Stars will help to further inspire more young Filipino players to strive for success and become great human beings as well as talented tennis players.”