PH’s Garcia, partner win back-to-back ITF juniors crowns

Filipino Junior Davis Cup Team Member Matthew Castillejo Garcia and his partner Tanapatt Nirundorn of Thailand stamped their class in the ITF Junior Tennis Championships in Colombo, Sri Lanka, winning back to back championships recently.

Garcia, 16, and Nirundorn, 15, went on an eight-game winning streak to take two crowns in the 18-under tournaments.

They capped a four-win spell with a final victory over Indian tandem of Subash Paramasivam and Arjun Sriram, 6-2, 6-1.

Garcia and Nirundorn, were seeded fourth in the tournament.

The duo followed this up with another four-game run that kicked off with an upset over the top-seeded pair of Prasanna Bagade and Kushan Shah of India, 6-1, 6-3.

Garcia, son of tennis legend and sports broadcaster Dyan Castillejo, and Nirundorn ended that run with a blistering 6-0, 6-4 triumph over the tough South Korean pair of Hyeoung Jin Kim and Sunwoo Kim in the final.

“I’m thankful for the good partnership we had (with Nirundorn),” said Garcia. “We played really well in the first set but got tight in the second as the Koreans also played better.

“I thank God for the wins and hope to be able to have more in the future,” he added.