Update: Alcantara, Hsieh win Aussie Open doubles

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino netter Francis Casey Alcantara and partner Cheng Pei Hsieh of Chinese Taipei won the boys doubles crown to cap their amazing run in the 2009 Australian Open in Melbourne. Alcantara and Hsieh completed their Australian Open title-run with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Mikhal Biryukov of Russia and Yasutaka Uchiyama of Japan in Saturday’s finals at the Margaret Court Arena. The 16-year-old Alcantara replaced Hsieh’s former partner Tsung-Hua Yang of Chinese Taipei to take the grand slam victory, a first by a Filipino in recent memory. Hsieh and Yang were last year’s champions. Alcantara and Hsieh capped the tournament with four breaks to finish off the unseeded Biryukov and Uchiyama, who stunned top-seed Yuki Bhambri of India and Liang-Chi Huang of Chinese Taipei in the semifinal round, in just 44 minutes. Alcantara and Hsieh, who only started their partnership at the start of the year, never dropped a set en route to the championship victory. The duo also won 87 percent of their first serve points in the game. It was redemption for Alcantara, who dropped his first round singles encounter despite being the 10th seed in the tournament. It was actually Hsieh’s third junior Grand Slam doubles crown having also won Wimbledon last year. The tandem of Alcantara and Hsieh, seeded seventh, downed Maximilian Neuchrist and Tristan-Samuel Weissborn of Austria 7-6 (4), 6-4 in the semifinal round to arrange a title showdown with Biryukov and Uchiyama. Alcantara, the Philippines’ top-rated tennis player, and Hsieh closed the tournament without dropping a set. – GMANews.TV