MELANIE Faye Dizon kept the momentum of her stirring come-from-behind upset over Annika Kannan of India, overpowering compatriot Isearis Bejosano, 6-0, 6-2, yesterday to barge into the quarterfinal round of the girls’ singles in the Phinma-PSC Juniors Tennis Championships Week I at the Manila Polo Club in Forbes Park.
Dizon, who vied in the WTA Future Stars Finals in Singapore last month, sustained her form against Bejosano to fashion the straight-set victory and arrange a Last 8 face-off with second seed Lisa Mays of Australia.
Dizon actually struggled against Kannan in the first round, dropping a 1-6 setback in the opening frame but the Filipina ace struck back via the same scoreline then broke her eighth-seeded rival in the decider to advance.
But against Mays, Dizon will have to double her effort as the Aussie also hacked out an easy 6-1, 6-3 win over Chinese Jingyi Li in the Group 4 ITF (International Tennis Federation) 18-and-under event sponsored by the Philippine Investment Management Consultants (Phinma) and sanctioned by the Philippine Tennis Association (Philta).
Other quarterfinalists were Nicole Hammond of the US, Chinese Fangran Tian, Hong Kong’s Wing Ka Lin, American Aesha Patel and Elizabeth Stevens.
Hammond also followed up her impressive 6-1, 6-0 disposal of top seed Chang Ting-Pei of Taiwan with a 6-1, 6-0 romp over Angelina Graovac of Australia; Tian stunned No. 5 Yuna Ohashi of Japan, 6-1, 6-1; No. 4 Lin toppled Malaysian Sofia Mohd Adam Das, 6-0, 6-3; No. 6 Patel ripped Japanese Sakura Kurokawa, 6-1, 6-2; and Stevens turned back Elysia Wan of Malaysia, 6-4, 6-3.
At presstime, Matthew Garcia, Arthur Pantino, Jose Antonio Tria, Michael Eala and Justin Suarez were vying for quarterfinal berths in the boys’ side of the event serving as the first of two ITF-sanctioned tournaments supported by Technifiber ball as official ball, official hotel Jinjiang Inn, Makati and the Philippine Sports Commission.
Meanwhile, Week 2 will be played Nov. 21-26 with the two-day qualifiers slated on Nov. 19-20, also at the MPC, according to tournament director Chris Cuarto with Malaysian Razmee Rawi as the tournament referee.
