INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines--Francis Casey Alcantara fashioned out yet another splendid game worthy of his lofty standing, blasting Japanese Kazuma Kawachi, 6-2, 6-3, Saturday to barge into the finals in the Phinma international juniors week 1 at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

He fired away with forehand winners to dominate his 15-year-old opponent and set up a boys singles final against Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka, who felled sixth seed compatriot Kaichi Uchida, 6-3, 6-2, in the other semis.

The 17-year-old Alcantara, defending boys doubles champion in the Australian Open, is heavily favored to take his second straight Phinma boys singles title against the 14-year-old Nishioka at 9 a.m. Sunday.

From the looks of it, Alcantara?recently crowned PCA Open doubles champ and singles semifinalist?is well equipped to get the job done.

He held serve throughout and broke the 775th ranked Kawachi four times to finish the match in one-hour. Alcantara, ranked 56th in the world but went as high as 9th this year, also unleashed seven aces showcasing the power serve which is the newest weapon in his artillery.

?I tried to take control early,? said Alcantara, who hails from Cagayan de Oro and is now under the wings of former Davis Cupper Jun Toledo.

Alcantara, however, faltered in doubles competition as he and partner Leander Lazaro dropped a 6-7(3), 6-4, 10-8 decision to unseeded Jack Schipanski of Australia and Tao Jun Nan of China.

Ranked 1,729th Nishioka, who went through the two-day qualifying, beat world?s 394th Uchida.

?In the finals I will have to be extra careful because he will surely bring out his best game against me,? said Alcantara.