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« on: December 09, 2006, 10:34:22 AM » |
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By Marc Anthony Reyes
Inquirer
Last updated 07:09am (Mla time) 12/10/2006
Published on page A31 of the December 10, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
RALPH Kevin Barte put a fitting finale to a brilliant week yesterday.
When everybody was looking elsewhere, the 17-year-old campaigner dislodged the heavyweights and capped his amazing run with a stunning victory over gritty Japanese Toshiya Suzuki to capture the Phinma-ITF Juniors Championships Week 2 boys' singles title at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
Showing the brand of game that many didn’t expect from him, Barte dominated the first set before putting his killer instinct in full view to defeat the unseeded Suzuki, 6-3, 7-6 (5), in a little over one hour.
The victory – the first in his young career -- put Barte in the same level as top-seeded compatriot Kyle Joshua Dandan who won the initial phase last week but fell victim to Suzuki in the semifinals.
Dandan is the only Filipino player here with a world junior ranking at 173.
"I don’t know what to say, I’m just very happy this is a very meaningful championship for me,’’ said Barte who finished high school through home study and left his native Davao City to re-boot his tennis career here in Manila.
Armed with powerful forehands and quick decision-making, Barte was part of the junior Davis Cup team two years ago and started campaigning in ITF tourneys in 2002.
That all came to a head when he stormed to a 5-4 lead in the second set only to see the Japanese, ranked 978th in the world juniors, creep from behind to post a 6-5 lead.
"I got a little over confident and was really looking at finishing the match early,’’ recalled Barte.
Yet instead of getting rattled by Suzuki’s gutsy stand, Barte fought him off from the baseline, steadily bringing the ball to the Japanese’s weak side to force a tie-break and prevent a potentially disastrous third set.
On the way to the championship, Barte had shared the limelight with Dandan by beating second seed Korean Choi Jae-Won, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, in the second round and fourth-seeded Japanese Yuki Matsuo, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, in the semis.
Second-seeded Elizaveta Titova, from Sochi, Russia, outlasted unseeded Korean Kun Hee Kim, 6-4, 6-4, to nail the girls' singles title.
Titova, 17, made it a double after pairing with 14-year-old Nadezda Guskova to edge second seeds Jessica Agra of the Philippines and Jawariah Noordin of Malaysia, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, for the girls doubles title.
The Russian girls also won the doubles last week over Agra and Japanese Misa Adachi in Pasig City last week.
Guskova, the last week's singles champion, this won her fifth doubles title this year, winning in tournaments in Russia, Belgium and Bulgaria with different partners.
Top seeds Martin Studeny of Czech Republic, runner up to Dandan in the singles final last week, and Japanese Yuki Matsuo clinched the boys' doubles title over fourth seeds Liang Chi Huang and Jui Chen Hung of Chinese Taipei, 6-2, 6-4.
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