PH tennis star Alcantara wins ITF doubles

Filipino top tennis star Francis Casey Alcantara picked up his second title of the season after he and Chinese partner Fajing Sun captured the ITF $25,000 China Futures 8 in Yinchuan Saturday.

Alcantara and Sun, seeded first, stopped fourth-ranked Kento Takeuchi of Japan and Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul of Thailand, 6-4, 2-6 (10-5) at Ningxia Stadium.

It was the 26-year-old Cagayan de Oro native’s second title of the season, after winning Singapore ITF Futures title along with American Collin Altamirano last month.

Alcantara and Sun competed in four China Futures the past four weeks, twice reaching the finals and twice more in the semifinals.

But on the way to the championship Saturday, they defeated third seeds Jie Cui and Rigele Te of China, (6-3, 6-1) in the semifinals; and another Chinese pair, Ye Cong Mo and Chukang Wang (6-3, 6-1) in the quarterfinals.

They demolished Australian William Ma and Japanese Kento Tagashira, (6-1, 6-2) in the first round.