Francis Alcantara wins 20th ITF doubles title, rules M25 Chennai

Filipino tennis player Francis Casey Alcantara. –FRANCIS ALCANTARA INSTAGRAM

MANILA, Philippines — Francis Casey Alcantara and Indonesian partner Christopher Rungkat ruled the M25 Chennai in India as the Filipino netter earned his 20th International Tennis Federation (ITF) doubles title.

Alcantara and Rungkat dominated Bogdan Bobrov and Adil Kalyanpur, 6-4, 6-2, in just 59 minutes to claim the $25,000 championship.

The Filipino-Indonesian pair overcame a tight first-set duel before dominating the second set with a 5-2 start and never looked back to earn their third championship together. 

READ: Asian Games: Alex Eala, Francis Alcantara bag tennis mixed doubles bronze

Alcantara and Rungkat won two titles together last year in Malaysia, ruling the M15 Kuala Lumpur and the M15 Ipoh Perak.

The 31-year-old Alcantara won 20 doubles championships out of 42 ITF final appearances.

Alcantara and Rungkat were the top seed of the tournament, taking down Bernard Tomic and Alexey Shtengelov in the first round, 6-1, 7-5, before eliminating Orel Kimhi and Ofek Shimanov in the quarterfinal, 6-3, 6-2.

The champion duo overcame David Pichler and Sandro Kopp in three sets, 6-3, 2-6, 10-7, in their semifinal duel on Friday.

Alex Eala also ruled the W50 Pune doubles in India as she and her Latvian partner Darja Semenistaja stunned the top-seed pair of Naiktha Bains and Fanny Stollar,  7-6(8), 6-3, on Saturday.