Alcantara, Arcilla bow to tough Japanese duo in Men’s Futures Open

Francis Casey Alcantara and Johnny Arcilla made a gallant stand in the men’s doubles semifinals but succumbed to their Japanese opponents Saturday in the PSC-Philta International Men’s Futures Open at Valle Verde Country Club shell courts in Pasig City.

Tracking down the ball and holding it down despite the obvious edge in speed by Issei Okamura and Kento Takeuchi, the Filipino pair bowed out of the $15,000 tournament with a 7-6 (2), 7-5 defeat.

Takeuchi and Okamura will face top seeds Harry Bourchier of Australia and Enrique Lopez-Perez of Spain in the finals Sunday. Bourchier and Lopez-Perez downed third seeds Kunai Anand and Vinayak Kaza of India, 1-6, 6-2 (10-6), in the other semis.

“They moved fast and we had to always adjust, but I think we still played well,” said Alcantara who paired with Arcilla for the first time in an ITF circuit tournament.

Still both Alcantara and Arcilla earned much-needed world ranking points for reaching the semifinals. They also earned points in singles after they won a match each early in the week.