Alcantara, Patrombon suffer mix fate in Italian Open doubles event

Francis Casey Alcantara and Jeson Patrombon’s respective bids for a doubles crown at the 51st Trofeo Bonfiglio (Italian Open) suffered contrasting fates at the clay courts in Milan, Italy on Thursday. While Alcantara and partner John Morrissey of Ireland moved on to the next round, Patrombon and teammate Richard Gabb of Britain were shown the exit door in separate Round of 16 matches. The 18-year-old Alcantara and Morrissey eliminated the Austrian pair of Sebastian Stiefelmeyer and Dominic Thiem, 6-3, 7-6 (5) to earn a quarterfinals spot. Alcantara and Morrissey’s win was a fitting follow-up from their stunning 6-1, 7-5 victory over the eight-seeded American pair of Nick Chappell and Dane Webb in the first round. Patrombon, however, was not that lucky after he and Gabb suffered a 6-3, 7-6 (5) loss to the Italian pair of Marco Cecchinato and Giammarco Micolani. Familiarity worked on Cecchinato and Micolani’s favor especially in the second set where they needed a tiebreak to dispatch their opponents. It was a sorry for Patrombon and Gabb, whose team-up earned them a stunning win over No. 2 seeds Guilherme Clezar of Brazil and Yasukata Uchiyama of Japan in the first round. Alcantara hopes to avenge Patrombon’s loss when he and Morrissey battle Cecchinato and Micolani in the Last 8 with the winner earning a spot in the semifinals. Alcantara, who last year won the Australian Open Boys Juniors title with Hsieh Cheng Peng of Chinese-Taipei, is seeking his second doubles title. He teamed up with Filipino-American Raymond Sarmiento to win the doubles’ crown in the Mitsubishi Lancer International Tennis Championships in Manila last March. Even top seeds Damir Dzumhur (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Mate Zsiga (Hungary) failed to escape the upset axe and were eliminated by the unseeded pair of Richard Muzaev of Russia and Dennis Novikov of USA, 7-6 (4) 6-4. – JVP, GMANews.TV