Casey ousts Taiwanese, gains quarterfinals

MANILA, Philippines – A resilient Francis Casey Alcantara overcame a slow start and carved out a 7-6 (1), 6-1 victory over Liang Wen Chun of Taipei yesterday to secure a berth for the Philippines in the quarterfinals of the 34th Philippine Columbian Association (PCA) Open-Cebuana Lhuillier ITF Men’s Futures 2 at the PCA’s Plaza Dilao clay courts in Paco, Manila.

After bringing down fifth seed Vinayak Sharma Kaza of India, 6-2, 7-6 (3), Wednesday, the 23-year-old Alcantara, a former Australian Open juniors doubles winner, eased out his Taiwanese foe to set up a Final Eight showdown with Spanish Enrique Lopez-Perez, a 6-4, 6-3 winner over Filipino Johnny Arcilla.

Alcantara, a tennis scholar at Pepperdine U, charged back from 2-5 down in the first half and roared on to come away with the straight-set win in the tournament supported by Cebuana Lhuillier, Puma, Dunlop, The Philippine STAR, Head, Babolat, Compass/IMOSTI and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao.

“I was a bit relaxed as I knew I can beat him (Liang),” said Alcantara, making the main draw from the qualifiers.

“I tried to be a little more patient by just returning the ball and waiting for him to commit mistakes, which happened,” he added.

The veteran Davis Cupper employed the same tactic in the second set that bore the same result.

Alcantara braces for a tougher match with Lopez-Perez.

“We played a friendly game just a few days ago and he’s strong at everything,” said Alcantara of Lopez-Perez, ranked 353rd in the world.

“I have nothing to lose against someone who is ranked in the top 300 in the world and will just try to make it a close fight and hopefully I could play well,” he added.

Tennis patron and Cebuana Lhuillier president and CEO Jean Henri Lhuillier emphasized the importance of hosting a world-class event in the country.

“I’m very glad with the exposure that our players are getting from these ITF Futures tournaments. This will help them in representing the country in future international team competitions such as Davis Cup, SEA Games and Asian Games,” said Lhuillier.