Diaz shines, nears Hilado netfest QF

Filipino Jana Jelena Nicole Diaz registered two victories to boost her chance of advancing to the girls’ quarterfinals in the first leg of the Oscar J. Hilado J60 World Tennis Championship at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center Wednesday.

Diaz defeated compatriots Kathlyn Ann Bugna, 6-0, 6-1, and Zacci Elyce Yuipco, 6-3, 6-0, to share the Group A lead with Korean Yerin Lee.

Lee, ranked No. 394 in the world, demolished Bugna, 6-0, 6-0, and Yuipco, 6-0, 6-0.

Under the World Tennis (formerly International Tennis Federation) rules, J60 events use a round-robin format where the top player from each four-player group advances to the single-elimination quarterfinal stage.

In Group C, Louraine Jallorina downed American Sofia Bartolata, 4-6, 7-5 (10-5) to stay in contention for a quarterfinal berth in the annual tournament held in honor of the late PHINMA Corp. chairman Emeritus Oscar Hilado in recognition of his lifelong support for and contributions to Philippine tennis.

Jallorina, who lost to Indonesian Gwen Emily Kurniawan, 1-6, 1-6, last Tuesday, has 1-1 record.

Meanwhile, Southeast Asian Games medalist Stefi Marithe Aludo clobbered Chinese Mengxi Sun, 6-0, 6-1, for her first win in Group E, while wild card Maristella Torrecampo beat Pin-Tsen Chou of Chinese Taipei, 6-0, 6-1, in Group H.

In the boys’ division, John Kendrick Bona outplayed Yo-Chi Chen of Chinese Taipei, 6-4, 7-5, to secure his first victory after bowing to Ryu Kotikula of Thailand, 4-6, 3-6, in Group B.

In other results, qualifier Stephen Yu Fuertes conquered Rafael Xavier Munozco of Australia, 6-4, 6-4, in Group C; wild card Miguel Ricaro Lagac III prevailed over Aum Hiren Thakkar of Thailand, 2-6, 6-2 (10-3, in Group D; and Kenzo Marcus Brodeth triumphed over qualifier Lakshya Bidhuri of Australia, 6-3, 6-2.