Stefi Aludo flashed top form in return to the PPS-PEPP junior tennis circuit, dominating the girls’ top two divisions while James Aquino stamped his class in boys’ 16-and-under play as they claimed the MVP honors in the Governor’s Cup at the DavNor Tourism Sports Complex courts in Tagum last Thursday.
Aludo stopped Dhea Cua’s title run in the three-leg Cotabato swing last month, coming away with a 6-2, 6-3 triumph in the 16-U finals then the Trento, Agusan del Sur find, a recipient of a Prince of Tennis award in 2019, toppled Chloe Mercado, 6-1, 6-1, to pocket the 18-U crown in the Group 2 tournament presented by Dunlop.
The top-seeded Aquino, on the other hand, survived a three-set scare from Maynard Castillon in the quarters, ripped Pete Cua, 6-0, 6-1, in the semis then blasted Robert Payot, 6-0, 6-0. But the Sto, Tomas, Davao del Norte bet failed to match Aludo’s feat as he fell to Daniel Giducos, 6-1, 1-6, 10-6, in the 14-U semis of the event sponsored by Gov. Edwin Jubahib.
Local bet Jayson Battad, however, foiled Giducos, 7-5, 6-1, in the finals to join Zhyrus Lozano, Marco Macalintal, Teiko Ello and Cua in the winners’ podium of the country’s longest talent-search put up by Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro.
Lozano, from Maragusan, Davao de Oro, stunned top seed Paul Cabrera, 6-3, 6-3, for the boys’ 12-U title while Ello, from Tagum, took the girls’ diadem with a tough 7-5, 6-3 victory over Reign Maglana. Macalintal, meanwhile, repelled Romeo Largo, 7-5, 6-1, in a duel of unranked bets in the boys’ 18-U final.
Though she yielded the 16-U trophy, Cua, from Kidapawan, kept the 14-U diadem with a 6-1, 6-0 romp over Ello in the five-day tournament backed by ProtekTODO, PalawanPay, the Unified Tennis Philippines and UTR (Universal Tennis Rating).
