Seeds Arcilla, Tierro arrange Metro tennis title duel

MANILA, Philippines – Johnny Arcilla and Patrick John Tierro lived up to their billing and arrange a finals meeting for the men’s singles title in the 1st Metro Open People’s Tennis Championships Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center. The top seeded Arcilla made use of the first set to study his opponent before unleashing his true form for a 5-7, 6-1, 6-3, victory over unranked Jaime Solon. “He surprised me with his serve and volley game in the first set. But I made the needed adjustment by becoming aggressive and making sure my balls will land near the baseline in the next two sets," said the 29-year old Arcilla who needed a little over two-hours to win his semifinals match Friday. Tierro hardly had problems with fourth seed Ralph Kevin Barte as the 6-foot-1 netter displayed his power game for a 6-3, 6-1, triumph in the 55-minute match. “Maybe I was just lucky that my serve was going in and he had difficulty returning my ball," said Tierro. The top and second ranked netters, both veterans of numerous international tournaments including the Davis Cup, will clash for the title at 3:30 pm. The winner will bag P60,000 and the 600 ranking points that goes with it but more importantly earn the final seat in the RP Davis Cup team that will face Hong Kong from March 6 to 8. “This is what I have been longing for. Patrick (Tierro) is favored to win because his specialty is the hard surface that is why I have to be focused throughout our match," added Arcilla. Tierro downplayed what his opponent had said since anything could happen against a talented and veteran player like Arcilla, who defeated him for the PCA Open title last year. “Johnny is still Johnny. You can be assured of anything when you play him. Besides all our past meetings were hard fought so I expect it to be the same," said Tierro. Meanwhile, third seed Aileen Rogan and eight seed Anna Christine Patrimonio will dispute the women’s singles title. Rogan proved to be the well-conditioned player against unseeded Ma. Regina Santiago who retired before the start of the second set due to severe cramps. Rogan took the first set at 7-6 (5). Patrimonio continued her giant killing ways adding fifth seed Jessica Marie Agra to her list of victims. She won the other semis match, 6-4, 6-2. The women’s singles will be played at 1 pm with the winner bringing home P25,000. – GMANews.TV