Bacolod’s Toni Rose Raymundo dug down deep to repulse the second-seeded Alyssa Bornia, 6-4, 7-5, and advance to the semifinal round of the girls’ 16-under class of the Palawan Pawnshop age-group tennis circuit presented by Babolat at the Consolacion Tennis Courts in Cebu yesterday.
Raymundo expertly broke Bornia once in the first and second sets then held her own the rest of the way to complete the win and set up a semifinal duel with the fourth-seeded Zethley Alferez, who booted out Kristin Salimbangon, 6-1, 6-0.
In other games, the top-ranked Shyne Villareal defeated Anjelica Mosqueda, 6-4, 6-3, to seal a semis duel with the third-seeded Alexie Santos, who beat Averille Sacapano, 6-0, 6-1, in the upper bracket of the Group 2 tournament.
No. 2 Elgy Dasian scored a walkover win over Ritchll Galeos to advance to the finals of the girls’ under-18 against the winner of the Hannah Espinosa-Raymundo duel being played at presstime.
Bornia survived Salimbangon, 7-6(4), 6-4, to reach the semis of the 14-U class against Villareal, who repulsed Mosqueda, 7-6(4), 6-0, while Santos and Alferez will dispute the other finals berth after beating Sacapano, 6-2, 6-1, and Mary Cobarde, 6-1, 6-0, respectively.
Earlier, Sacapano gained a semis berth in the 12-and-U category with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Franzyn Billones.
She will face Salazar, who beat Shedel Gica, 6-4, 6-0, while Mae Repollo and Kiana De Asis clash in the other semis pairing after defeating Amelie Matta and Danielle Largo via walkover and 7-5, 6-3, respectively.
Cagayan de Oro’s Sebastian Mosqueda routed Alley Berdin III, 6-0, 6-0, to lead the semifinalists in the boys’ 18-and-U division of the first of two Group 2 tournaments lined up in Cebu. Joining him in the Final Four are Changmai Necesario, who also blanked Nathan Songco, 6-0, 6-0; Julian Dayrit, who turned back Allen Manlangit, 4-6, 6-4 (10-8) and Luke Flores, who survived Jed Villarin, 7-5, 3-6(10-8).
Mosqueda also reached the semis of the 16-and-U category with another 6-0, 6-0 romp over Jabs Barcenas while Dayrit toppled Manlangit, 6-4, 6-2; Flores edged Cebu’s Arthur Pantino, 7-6(2), 4-6 (10-5); and Jan Godfrey Seno, also of Cebu, dominated Manuel Navales, 6-0, 6-0.