Long-time rivals Johnny Arcilla and PJ Tierro arranged another title showdown with a sweep of their respective rivals even as Clarice and Christine Patrimonio forged a sibling duel for the women’s crown in the PPS-PEPP Brookside Open at the Brookside Hills Tennis Club in Cainta over the weekend.
Arcilla, who has bested Tierro in a number of title clashes in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala Open circuit, trampled third seed Leander Lazaro, 6-2, 6-4, while Tierro held off No. 5 Ronard Joven 6-4, 6-4, to get another crack at redemption in the R300,000 event sponsored by PPS-PEPP and hosted by BHTC president Allan del Castillo.
The duo were actually disputing the crown worth P50,000 at presstime.
Clarice, meanwhile, bucked Rachelle de Guzman’s challenge and hacked out a 7-6(1), 6-3 victory while Christine overwhelmed Chloe Sazara, 6-1, 6-0, to seal an expected clash for the P25,000 prize in the tournament backed by PPS-PEPP, Slazenger, Rep. Jack Duavit, Mayor Johnielle Nieto, Victoria Construction, Mitsubishi Mirage, Rublou Mall, 9 One 9 Security Agency, chairman Buboy Sauro, BHTC president Allan del Castillo, Phoenix 5R Solid Waste Enterprises and Sebastian Rice Mill.
Arcilla earlier teamed up with Joven to outlast Tierro and Lazaro, 6-4, 7-6(1), and annex the men’s doubles title worth P20,000 while the Patrimonios smothered the De Guzman-Khrizelle Sampaton pair, 6-3, 6-0, to claim the women’s diadem and P15,000.
While Arcilla has the edge in their head-to-head clashes, Tierro is raring to pull this one off while Christine is likewise out to upend her sister in their side of the title showdown.
Meanwhile, the PPS-PEPP circuit, backed by the new Unified tennis group, led by PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson Toby’s and B-Meg, resumes with the age-group competitions this week featuring the 10-unisex and the boys’ and girls’ 12-, 14-, 16- and 18-and-under competitions and 10-U, 14-U and 18-U doubles.
For details, call PPS-PEPP Regional Age Group Tennis Event organizer and Sports Program Development director Bobby Mangunay at 0915-4046464.