JESON Patrombon and Aileen Rogan came away with a pair of straight-set victories over their respective top seeded rivals to capture the singles crowns in the first PPS-PEPP Fr. Fernando Suarez Cup at the Colegio San Agustin in Bulacan over the weekend.
Patrombon kept the momentum of his emphatic 6-1, 6-0 romp over PCA Open champion Bryan Otico in the semis and crushed Johnny Arcilla via the same scoreline to run away with the men’s singles diadem while Rogan, 37, dominated Patricia Velez, 6-3, 6-1, in the women’s finals to complete the second-seeded bets’ romp in the event held in honor of the healing priest and presented by Asiatraders Corp. with Slazenger and Dunlop as official balls.
They capped their big weekend by ruling the doubles with Patrombon teaming up with PJ Tierro to thwart Vicente Anasta and Arcilla, 6-2, 7-5, and Rogan partnering with Bambi Zoleta to hold off siblings Frances and Regina Santiago, 7-5, 6-0.
Bracing for a fierce duel, Patrombon, 24, instead had an easier time disposing of Arcilla, breaking the latter right in the second game of the opening set then taking the sixth en route to the 11:35-minute victory. It was more of the same in the second frame with Patrombon yielding just 12 points while hammering in winners and five aces, including three in the sixth game.
So impressive was the Iligan City ace, who only gave up seven games to clinch the crown worth P60,000.
Rogan, on the other hand, broke Velez in the fifth game of the first set then dominated the ninth game to take the set. She sustained her form in the next, breaking her rival in the second and sixth to fashion out the 23-minute victory worth P30,000.
“We’d like to thank Fr. Suarez, whose support will surely boost the development of the sport, particularly in the junior level, along with the country’s leading players who are also members of the national team,” said Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro.
Sharing the spotlight in the week-long event sanctioned by the Unified Tennis Philippines were Jelic Amozana, Alexi Santos and Monivic Santos.
Amozana defeated Allen Manlangit, 6-3, 6-4, in an all-National U finale to clinch the men’s singles title in the Inter-school category. The duo also took the doubles crown via 6-4, 6-4 decision over Julian Dayrit and Anton Punzalan; Alexi Santos captured the women’s singles plum with a 6-4, 6-4 over fellow UST bet Patricia Velez; and UP’s Monivic Santos teamed up with Miles Vitaliano to beat Alexi Santos and Velez, 7-6(5), 6-3, for the women’s doubles diadem in the tournament backed by UTP, including PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson, Toby’s, Dunlop, Slazenger and B-Meg.
Meanwhile, nine other festival Open tournament are on tap in this year’s PPS-PEPP calendar along with 40 age-groupers spread in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. For details, call PPS-PEPP Sports Program Development director and organizer Bobby Mangunay at 0915-4046464.