Francis Casey Alcantara hardly showed any rust after a two-month break as he resumed his campaign in the pro tour by barging into the doubles semifinals of the Amman Mineral International Tennis Championships 2022 in Indonesia.
The 30-year-old Alcantara teamed up with Yuki Mochizuki of Japan as they defeated hometown wildcard bets David Agung Susanto and Fitriadi Rifqi, 6-4, 7-5, in the quarterfinals on Thursday of the $15,000 ITF event held at the Hotel Sultan Tennis Court in Jakarta Pusat, Jakarta, Indonesia.
Susanto and Rifqi had drawn energy the previous day from the home crowd as the local favorites upended the higher ranked Japanese duo of Ryuki Matsuda and Kazuki Nishiwaki. The Indonesians’ hope for a repeat performance, however, was thwarted by Alcantara and Mochizuki who earned their second straight set victory.
Seeded first in the tournament, Alcantara and Mochizuki cruised past another Japanese entry, Issei Okamura and Kento Takeuchi, in the opening round on Wednesday, 6-3, 6-4.
The top seeds, however, will be in for a projected long battle in the semifinals as they will be facing another Indonesian pair, veteran Christopher Rungkat and 17-year-old Nathan Anthony Barki.
Rungkat was ranked 68th in the world in doubles in 2019 and has seen action in all the ATP grand slam events. Last January, he teamed up with Filipino doubles star Treat Huey in the Australian Open where the two made the second round.
