KHIM Iglupas and John Decasa beat their respective Japanese rivals to survive the rash of setbacks suffered by Filipino bets in the opener of the Phinma International Juniors Tennis Championships at Rizal Memorial Tennis Center yesterday.
Iglupas dominated higher-ranked Konomi Shida, 6-2, 6-2, to advance to the second round of the girls’ singles while Decasa pulled through, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6, to gain in the boys’ side of the first of two Grade 4 tournaments sponsored by Phinma Group of Companies.
Iglupas and Decasa’s wins prevented a first-round shutout by the hosts as seven Filipinos were ousted, including fifth-ranked Roxanne Resma, who bowed to Fil-Aussie Melissa Esguerra, 1-6, 1-6.
Other local bets who were eliminated were Jade Capadocia, Isabella Orteza, Andrea Amistad, Angela Sunga, Isabella Mendoza and Maia Balce.