Vicencio, Eala forge First Gen title clash

Mikaela Vicencio and Alex Eala sustained their hot charge and toppled their respective semifinal rivals to arrange a showdown for the girls’ 14-andunder crown in the eighth First Gen Juntaphil Metro Age Group Tennis Championship at the Alabang Country Club in Muntinlupa yesterday.

The top-seeded Vicencio, also the No. 1 player in her age group in the current Philta ranking, eased out Sydney Enriquez, 6-4, 6-2, in the quarters then dominated Lourdes Pe, 6-1, 6-1, in the semis to seal a title clash with the seventh-ranked Eala, who stopped giant-killer Bea Ocampo with a 6-1, 6-3 victory in the lower half of the draw.

Second seed Rafaella Villanueva, meanwhile, romped off with a 6-0, 6-0 rout of Katrina Peñaflor to advance to the finals of the premier 18-U section while Shaina Rivera trampled Miles Vitaliano, 6-1, 6-2, to earn a crack at the 16-U crown in the annual tournament co-presented by the First Gen Corp. headed by Francis Giles Puno and sponsored by Smart Communications.

Melanie Faye Dizon upstaged the top seeded Villanueva, 6-3, 6-1, as the ace from Sta. Rosa, Laguna, also a medalist in the Batang Pinoy and Palarong Pambansa, rolled into the girls’ 16-U finals against No. 2 Shaina Rivera, who stormed past Miles Vitaliano, 6-1, 6-2.