Iglupas rallies to beat Wang, retains Phinma crown

MANILA, Philippines - Khim Iglupas bucked a cold start and ran the taller Wang Xin Yu of China to the ground with her solid baseline game, fashioning out a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory to retain the girls’ singles crown in Week 1 of the PSC-Phinma International Juniors Tennis Championships at the Manila Polo Club in Makati yesterday.

Iglupas battled back from an opening set setback with a dominant performance in the next two that saw her yield just three games on her way to posting the resounding fightback and keeping the championship for the second straight year.

The victory, worth 40 ITF points, came on the heels of her tough 7-5, 6-3 payback win over Japanese Ayumi Miyamoto Saturday and boosted the 17-year-old ace from the Philippine Tennis Academy’s drive for a sweep in Week 2 of the Grade 4 ITF tournament sponsored by Phinma Group of Companies and the Philippine Sports Commission.

Naoki Tajima, also of Japan, thwarted Korean Yeongseok Jeong in a tight first set duel before completing a 6-4, 6-2 victory to clinch the boys’ diadem, also worth 40 ITF points, in the event backed by Mariposa Foundation, Palm Rock Residences and Dunlop Sport, also the tournament’s distributor of official balls.