Southeast Asian Games medalist Khim Iglupas bested her Japanese foe yesterday to march into the quarterfinals of the Phinma International Juniors Tennis Championships at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
Iglupas, member of the Philippine team that won silver in the 2015 Singapore SEAG, outplayed Shiori Ito, 6-4, 6-3, to inch closer to the crown rated Grade 4 in the International Tennis Federation.
The win came a day after the top-seeded Iglupas routed Australian Ivana Popovic, 6-3, 6-2 in the opening round.
It was also a repeat victory of Iglupas, who also beat Ito in the second round of Week 1.
The 17-year-old Iglupas set up a meeting with the winner between unseeded netters Shevita Aulana of Indonesia and Japan’s Ange Oby Kajuru, who are playing at presstime.
Iglupas struggled with her serve and was trailing 4-2 in the first set before winning the next four games to seal the set victory.