Alcantara, Gonzales, fall short in Florida ITF quarterfinals

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

 

Philippines’ national team star tennis duo of Francis Casey Alcantara and Ruben Gonzales had the chance to upset the tournament seed no. 3 pair during the International Tennis Federation (ITF) ASC BMW USD25,000 World Tennis Tour quarterfinals in Naples, Florida. But they couldn’t handle the pressure.

In one of the most thrilling matches of the competition, Alcantara and Gonzales were in a favorable position to outlast Conner Huertas del Pino and Alexander Merino of Peru in the super tiebreak third set but they couldn’t break the opposition’s service game.

The dynamic duo from Peru prevented the upset from the Filipinos in three long sets, 7-6, 4-6, 10-7.

It was a hot start for the Filipinos as Alcantara’s heavy first service consistently set up return smashes from Gonzales.

Gonzales’ quick net-game helped them stay competitive but del Pino and Merino began moving forward to apply more pressure.

Despite losing the first set in a close contest, the PH tag team stormed back in the second set to force a super tiebreak decider for a semifinals berth.

During the super tiebreak, del Pino and Merino’s efforts matched the Filipinos’ intensity to claim the victory.

“We were playing so much better compared to last week. It’s really hard to play a super tiebreak because we need to focus on every single point. Just one missed opportunity and our opponents grabbed the lead from us already,” said Alcantara.