A NEW generation of Filipino tennis players, represented by Jurence Zosimo Mendoza and Alberto Lim Jr., will banner the local campaign when the 24th Mitsubishi Lancer International Junior tennis championships gets going March 19 to 24 at Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
The 16-year-old Mendoza is expected to make the main draw of the boys singles, while 13-year-old Lim is likely to get a wild card as they aspire to become the first Filipino boys to win the tough Grade 1 International Tennis Federation tournament.
Seeing action in the boys event are World No. 6 Borna Coric of Croatia, No. 24 Luke Bambridge of Great Britain, No. 34 Lucas Miedler of Austria. World No. 7 Hsu Ching-wen of Chinese Taipei, No. 33 Ipek Soylu of Turkey, No. 40 Nina Stojanovic of Serbia, No. 46 Xu Shilin of China are competing in the girls division.
The Philippines won the girls’ event twice before through Maricris Fernandez and Francesca La’O.
The Mitsubishi juniors has served as launch pad for the stellar careers of the likes of former champion Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick.
The event is also sponsored by Accel, Technifibre, Gatorade, Hidden Spring and Century Park Hotel.