Local bet Rudas hangs tough in Phinma jr netfest

This time, Marinel Rudas of the Philippines needed to pull off a tough win as early as the opening round of the Phinma International Junior Tennis Week 2.

A quarterfinalist in the Week 1 event, Rudas had to go through two tie break points in two sets before eking out a 7-6, 7-6 triumph over Japanese rival Natsumi Chimura Tuesday at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center. Rudas' victory was the only bright spot for the local bets in the early going of first round. Three Filipina netters fell prey to their foreign counterparts. An injury forced Maria Capadocia to retire in the second set of her match with Varunya Wongteanchai, who was leading, 6-4, 3-0. Louise Alexandra Lopez, who a day earlier made her way to the main draw, got a rude welcome from Tanaporn Thongsing of Thailand, bowing 1-6, 0-6. Patricia Joy Oretza also did not escape defeat to a foreign rival, losing to Sofia Dmitrieva of Russia, 6-3, 6-3. Rudas experienced the toughness of competition as early as the first round. She faces an acid test when she meets No.3 seed Siyu Qin in Round 2 Wednesday. Siyu blanked Ylia Sudnikova of Russia, 6-0, 6-0, to make a strong statement of her title aspirations. Other players who advanced to the next round were Dina Karina of Indonesia in the girls division and Chung-Sheng Yu of Chinese Taipei in the boys division. Karina scuttled Ekaterina Ylueva of Russia, 6-1, 6-4, while Chung nipped a tough Japanese foe in Yuki Muramatsu, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4. - Rey Joble/JVP/KY, GMANews.TV