Khim Iglupas, Shaira Hope Rivera and Frances Santiago stood tall while four other Filipino bets fell Wednesday in the Phinma-PSC juniors championships girls singles Week 2 at Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
The top-seeded Iglupas, last years’ champion who bombed out in the semifinals in Week 1, drubbed Australian Ivana Popovic, 6-3, 6-2, to progress to the second round.
The World No. 104 in juniors and forefront of the Philippine Tennis Academy, Iglupas will battle Japanese Shiori Ito, who ousted Russian Mariya Krasova, 6-3, 6-0.
Rivera, a daughter of a police officer from Ozamis City, advanced after outlasting Japanese Kanon Yasumoto, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Rivera bowed out in the quarterfinals in Week 1.
A student of De La Salle-Zobel, Rivera will next face third seed Lee Kuan-yi of South Korea, who beat Indonesian Samantha Nenere, 6-1, 6-2.
Santiago, a wildcard entry, ousted Tameka Peterson of Trinidad and Tobago, 6-4, 6-1. She will next take on No. 6 pick Li Xuan Jin of China, who beatAmerican Skyler Holm, 6-2, 6-1.
Monica Therese Cruz, Rafaela Villanueva, Janelle Carmela Llavore and Gennifer Lysandra Pagente dropped their first-round assignments.
Cruz bowed to Japan’s Rika Tanaka, 6-0, 6-1, while Villanueva fell to American Jordan Harris in a 6-1, 6-2 decision.
Llavore yielded to Chinese Taipei’s Wang Chao-Yi, 6-2, 6-2; while Pagente also absorbed a 6-2, 6-1 beating against China’s Yang JingJing.