INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines—From dusty back lots of Cagayan de Oro City to the hallowed grounds of the Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne, Australia, Filipino tennis sensation Francis Casey Alcantara has come a long way.

On Saturday, the once scrawny 16-year-old who had to bulk up over the holidays, became the first Filipino to win a Grand Slam event after pairing with a Taiwanese for the boys doubles title of the Australian Open tennis championships.

Alcantara, known to friends as Niño, paired with 17-year-old Cheng-Peng Hsieh to demolish Mikhal Biryukov of Russia and Yasutaka Uchiyama of Japan, 6-4, 6-2, in the final match to achieve what no Filipino has done before. En route to the championship, the duo did not drop a single set and only twice did they have to play a tiebreak.

“I don’t know what to say. I’m very happy. I guess it still has to sink in,” Alcantara, the Philippines’ top-ranked junior player and No. 20 in the world, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer over the phone from the bus back to his hotel.

Filipino youngster Felix Barrientos reached the semifinals of the Wimbledon juniors singles in 1985, the year he was ranked No. 1 in the world in the junior circuit. In 1953 tennis great and Hall of Famer Felicisimo “Mighty Mite” Ampon won the Wimbledon Plate—a tournament for first- and second-round losers of the Wimbledon mens singles.

Alcantara’s triumph drew appreciation from local and foreign-based Filipino tennis fans who swarmed the Australian Open website with a deluge of congratulatory messages.

The doubles title more than made up for his first-round upset loss to unseeded Swede Daniel Berta in the boys’ singles where Alcantara was seeded 10th.

New teamup

In the doubles he and Hsieh, last year’s champion with a different partner, were seeded seventh as a pair. The Asian pair, which teamed up only this year, bowed out in the second round of the tune-up event, the Nottingham Invitational, two weeks back.

“The general plan was to be aggressive and to attack the net,” said his coach Junjun Toledo. “The opponents are bigger so we can’t afford to play their game.”

That’s what the 5-foot-7 Alcantara and the 6-foot Hsieh did as they broke their opponents right in the opening game and held on to take the first set.

Alcantara said they were prepared for a tough time in the second set, but after posting a 5-1 lead, he said he could already smell the victory.

3rd Grand Slam title

The match was over in just 44 minutes in the sweltering Australian summer heat, which two days earlier reached 45 degrees Celsius and caused the quarterfinal match between them and German’s Kevin Krawietz and Dominik Schulz to be postponed.

It was Hsieh’s third Grand Slam boys doubles title. He won in Melbourne and in Wimbledon last year. The 15th seeded Taiwanese was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the boys singles draw.

Alcantara is the eldest of three children. He learned to play tennis from his father who passed away six years ago.

“I dedicate this to him,” said Alcantara whose mother Sarah, a government employee, was there cheering him at the sidelines.

Davis Cup prospect

It was also an advanced birthday gift for the young netter who will turn 17 on Feb. 4. They are scheduled to arrive home late Sunday and return to his studies at the Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro City where he is a high school senior.

Already, there was talk of him getting a slot in the Philippine Davis Cup training team, something Toledo welcomed.

“That’s great news, I played in the Davis Cup before and I know how it will help him with his confidence,” said Toledo. His stint in the Australian Open was sponsored by Cebuana Lhuillier and tennis patron Oscar Hilado.

It was complete domination for Alcantara and Hsieh, who combined to make 87 percent of their first serves against Biryukov and Uchiyama’s 72 percent. They also posted 60 percent accuracy in second serves against their opponents’ 41 percent.

Soon after Alcantara fell to Berta (3-6, 4-6) in the boys singles, his tandem with Hsieh went full steam ahead, beating Toni Androic of Croatia and Sudarwa Sitaram of India (6-3, 6-4) in the first round and James Chaudry of Britain and John Morrisey of Ireland (6-0, 6-3) in the second round.

They also hurdled Krawietz and Schulz, 6-4, 7-6 (5), and booted out Austria’s Maximilian Neuchrist and Tristan Samuel Weissborn, 7-6 (4), 6-4, in the semi-finals to barge into the championship match.