Arcilla, Dy bag PCA Open Tennis titles

Asian Games-bound Johnny Arcilla bagged the men's singles title of the P400,000 Philippine Columbian Association (PCA) Open Tennis Championships at the PCA indoor claycourt on Sunday. The ladies singles title went to 17-year-old Fil-American Denise Dy, who scored a 7-5, 6-4 victory over second seed Bambi Zoleta, a 14-year-old player from Lucena City. Sweet revenge for Arcilla Using his strong forehand, Arcilla pushed a 7-5 victory over Rolando Ruel Jr. in the first set, then cruised to 6-0, 6-4 wins in the following sets to bag his second singles title in the 25-year-old tournament. "Winning this tournament is like sweet revenge for me. Ruel beat me twice this year and I wanted to get back at him," Arcilla said, who now stands 4-2 against Ruel. Arcilla won the PCA title in 2001, but only finished a runnerup in 2003 and got only as far as the semis in 2004. He was also the runnerup in 1999 and 2000. Ruel, who beat Arcilla in the Escudero Cup and the Abalos Cup, charged to a 5-4 lead in the first set before Arcilla fought back to take the set, 7-5. Arcilla won a total of P89,000 in cash, including P9,000 from his share in the doubles purse after he and former RP teammate Joseph Victorino bagged the title over sixth seeds Dino Jimenez and Michael Mora III, 6-2, 6-3. Nervous but victorious Dy After trailing 3-4 in the second due to errors, the California-based Dy regained her form and tied the count at 4-all. She came up with back-to-back winners to break Zoleta in the next game and held her serve in the 10th game to win the match in one hour, 35 minutes. "I got a little nervous because she's always getting the ball back," Dy said. Dy led 5-3 in the first set before Zoleta won the next two games at 5-all. Dy rallied back and took the next two games to keep the set. "There's a lot of pressure for me in this tournament, a lot of people expect me to win. I'm glad I pulled everything through," Dy, who received the P30,000 champion's purse, said. She and four-time PCA champion Jennifer Saret beat Bambi and Bien Zoleta, 6-1, 6-1, in the ladies doubles finals last Saturday to share P8,000. "I'd like to defend both titles next year. It's been a wonderful experience for me playing in this tournament," said Dy, who saw action in last year's Manila SEA Games and the Fed Cup held in South Korea last May. Dy, who along with Czarina Arevalo will compete in next month's Doha Asian Games, will be in her last year in the ITF Juniors Circuit next year and she plans to concentrate more on the women's circuit. "Next year will be a transition period for me. I'd still join junior tournaments, but I have to focus more on the women circuit and try to get some points," said Dy, the only Filipino in the elite ITF junior team that toured Europe for four months early this year. - GMANews.TV