Mendoza, Capadocia hang on in three sets

MANILA, Philippines – Jurence Zosimo Mendoza and Marian Jade Capadocia pulled off three-set victories Tuesday at the start of the 23rd Mitsubishi Lancer International junior tennis championships at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

Mendoza, the 15-year-old understudy for the Philippine Davis Cup team, outlasted a hard-fighting Takashi Saito of Japan, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-1, while Capadocia hacked out a hard-earned 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 win over Carina Ma Ka-man of Hong Kong.

The 5-foot-8 Mendoza, runner-up in the last PCA Open, needed two hours to down the 6-foot Saito and advance against fourth seed James Frawley of Australia, who drew a bye.

“He’s very tough but I was in tip-top condition and my training paid off today,” said Mendoza, who is being considered to play against Pakistan in the  April 6 to 8 tie in case Jeson Patrombon failed to recover from an injury.

The 16-year-old Capadocia, who was part of the bronze-medal winning PH team in the Southeast Asian Games, will next take on fifth seed Ratnika Batra of India.

Tamitha Nguyen dropped a close match to Japanese Natsuho Arakawa, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (5), and four other locals also bowed out in the girls’ singles.

Maika Jae Tanpoco lost to Indonesia’s Tami Grende, 6-0, 6-2; Maria Angela Sunga fell to Japan’s Mami Adachi, 6-1, 6-3; Isabella Mendoza  bowed to Japan’s Hiraki Yamamoto, 6-0, 6-0; and Jasmine Ho yielded to New Zealand’s Louise Oxnevad, 6-3, 6-0.