Young tennis talents for SEAG campaign

MANILA, Philippines—Philippine tennis will gamble on fresh young faces in the Southeast Asian  Games (SEAG)  in Singapore this June.

Among those recommended for inclusion to Team Philippines were Francis Casey Alcantara, Katharina Lehnert, Ruben Gonzales and Jeson Patrombon.

From among them, only the 21-year-old Patrombon has played in the Games before.

Philippine Tennis Association vice president Randy Villanueva said the team packs a lot of promise in a bid to improve on its lone gold performance two years ago.

“We are slowly trying to expose these young talents to the big stage because in time they will be the standard bearers of Philippine tennis,” said Villanueva.

Patrombon, a juniors Australian Open singles quarterfinalist, is expected to boost the men’s team along with Alcantara, who helped the country score a 5-0 victory over Sri Lanka in the recent Davis Cup tie.

Lehnert, 21, is also making her SEA Games debut after competing in Europe.