Ealas shine in Jakarta ITF tilt

Unified Tennis Philippines national junior team players Alex and Miko Eala dropped a pair of three-set losses in contrasting fashions, but still made heads turn when they made it to the finals of the International Tennis Federation (ITF)-AGS Junior Tennis Championships recently in Jakarta.

The unranked Alex, 13, bucked the odds and toppled seeded bets on her way to the girls’ singles finals.

Unfortunately, she fell short of her comeback bid against top seed Priska Nugroho of Indonesia, yielding a 2-6, 6-4, 1-6 decision in the ITF Group 4 tournament.

The seventh ranked Miko also upended No. 3 Karan Srivastava, 6-2, 6-1, in the quarters then blasted fifth seed Odeda Arazza, 6-1, 6-2, to earn a crack at the boys’ crown.

But after forcing a decider with a tough win, he fell short and dropped a 3-6, 7-6(6), 5-7 decision to top seed Ryoma Matsushita of Japan.

“We congratulate Miko and Alex for proving that the Philippine team is a force to reckon with. We also commend the rest of the UTP national team in this tourney for their sportsmanship and passion for the sport,” said UTP president Jean Henri Lhuillier.

Other members of the squad were Bea Acena, Manuel Balce III. Melanie Dizon and Macie Carlos.

“Part of UTP’s mission is to continuously expose emerging Filipino junior tennis players to global competitions, thus giving them the opportunity to hone their skills on and off the court against some of the world’s best junior players.”