ALEXA Milliam survived an early test then dominated Kimi Brodeth while local Nikhel Nowlakha outdueled Benedict Santiago in a tense-filled tiebreaker as they led the winners in the PPS-PEPP National Age Group tennis tournament in Iloilo City over the weekend.
After barely pulling through in the opening set, Millian, the second seeded player, asserted her might over Brodeth in the next to hack out a 5-4(4), 4-0 victory while Nowlakha, from Cabatuan, foiled Santiago, 1-4, 4-2, 12-10, in the premier 18-and-under finals at the La Paz courts.
Other winners in the Group 2 tournament which marked the return of junior tennis after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic and which drew players from Puerto Princesa, Ormoc, Dumaguete, Cebu, Bacolod and Panay Island were Brodeth and Elemar Sealza (16-U), Therese Gauran and Renante Bravo (14-U), Iloilo’s Louraine Jallorina and Rafa Callao (12-U) and Theriz Zapatos (10-unisex).
Brodeth, from Ormoc, made up for her failed bid in the 18-U as she toppled top seed Gauran, 4-2, 4-2, while Sealza, from Alimodian, Iloilo, ripped Bravo, 4-2, 4-0; Gauran, from Tayasan, Negros, overpowered Jallorina, 4-0, 4-0; and Bravo, also from Ormoc, clipped Kenzo Brodeth, 5-3, 4-1.
