FRANCIS CASEY ALCANTARA and young partner Sebastien Lhuillier beat the Americans duo of Noah Laber and Joe Mairs, 7-6, 6-3, to win the Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) Newport Beach Open crown on Monday in California.
Alcantara, a 29-year-old many-time national team campaigner, and Lhuillier, the 17-year-old son of former taekwondo Olympian and champion gymnast Bea Lucero, banked $4,000 for their successful debut as doubles partners.
“It was really good to play against younger players,” Alcantara told BusinessMirror Sports in a phone interview.
Alcantara, ranked 615th in the Association of Tennis Players (ATP) World Doubles ranking, praised Lhuillier, whose mom clinched a bronze medal in taekwondo in the Barcelona 1992 Olympics, for overcoming their higher-ranked opponents in his first men’s tournament.
“He played really well in holding our serves,” Alcantara said. “As a junior player and the lowest ranked among us, he played really well and executed the points perfectly today.”
Lhuillier is ranked deep at 5,939 in the world juniors rankings. Laber and Mairs, both 18, on the other hand, are No. 1,265 and 3,366, respectively.
“I am really happy for Sebastien winning his very first men’s tournament and I got to help him achieve that.” said Alcantara, who acted as the youngster’s mentor throughout the tournament.
Seven pairs took part in the tournament with Alcantara and Lhuillier getting a bye in the first round. They defeated Ben Keyser of the US and Alexis Delisle of France in the semifinals, 1-4, 5-4, 5-3.
Universal Tennis Rating rules governed the tournament, meaning a team could be composed of one juniors and one men’s players.