By MARK REY MONTEJO
Francis Casey Alcantara and his Thai partner Pruchya Isaro yielded to unseeded Japan’s Shintaro Mochizuki and Kaito Uesugi in a tight and tense quarterfinal duel, 7-5, 6-4, at the ATP Challenger Chennai Open in India on Thursday, Feb. 6.
Alcantara and Isaro put up a gallant fight in their 1 hour and 23 minutes duel but their best were not enough to stop the Japanese pair which attacked the net without fear apart from producing big winners during fiery exchange of shots.
With their win, Mochizuki and Uesugi secured a semis duel with Indians Vijay Sundar Prashanth and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan in the semifinal of the $160,000 tournament.
Alcantara and Isaro pulled off a 6-3, 4-6, 10-7 victory over Russians Kazakh Timofey Skatov and Russian Alexey Zakharov in round of 16.
After trailing 1-4 in the opening game, Alcantara and Isaro, the competition’s No. 4 seed, rallied furiously and knotted the count at 5-5.
But a double-fault proved costly as it gave the momentum back to the Japanese tandem.
Alcantara and Isaro appeared headed to a second set victory after gaining a 4-3 lead, but Mochizuki and Uesugi fought back ferociously, winning the next three games to seal the deal.
