CAGAYAN de Oro lawn tennis fans get ready.
Philippine tennis stars Francis Casey Alcantara of Cagayan de Oro and Jason Patrombon of Iligan City will figure in a so-called Clash of Champions here on Sunday, August 26, at the Nazareth lawn tennis court.
Game time is set at 2 pm.
Alcantara won the 2009 Australian Open Boys’ Doubles event with Hsieh Cheng-peng, beating Mikhail Biryukov and Yasutaka Uchiyama, 6–4, 6–2 in the final.
On January 1, 2009, Alcantara reached his highest junior ranking of world number 14.
In winning the 2009 Australian Open Boys’ Doubles title, Alcantara and Cheng-peng did not lose a set during the entire tournament.
Patrombon has a career high ATP singles ranking of 869 achieved on 13 August 2012. He also has a career high ATP doubles ranking of 1063 achieved on 5 October 2015. Patrombon has won 1 ITF doubles title and has represented Philippines at the Davis Cup where he has a W/L record of 5–4.
“What I like most with these kids are their penchant to go back to roots and entertain the local fans with what they have kay mga maayong laki gyod ni sila manula. Of course, Niño will be the crowd-darling kay sa Nazareth tennis gyod siya gadako,” said Alcantara’s bosom buddy and conditioning coach Marlon Castro.
“Bibo kini nga dula kay naa pud taga Iligan and tennis fans from other places,” added sports-loving lawyer and journalist Tibs Palasan. (With LLS reports)