Francis Casey Alcantara and Japanese partner Yuki Mochizuki failed to build on their strong start as they faltered in the deciding set to bow out in the semifinals on Friday of the Amman Mineral International Tennis Championships 2022 staged at the Hotel Sultan Tennis Court in Jakarta Pusat, Jakarta, Indonesia.
The top seeds in the $15,000 ITF event, Alcantara and Mochizuki dropped a heartbreaker to the unseeded hometown pair of Christopher Rungkat and Nathan Anthony Barki in three pulsating sets, 6-3, 5-7, 6-10.
Alcantara and Mochizuki were in total control of the opening set as they broke the Indonesians twice. But Rungkat, the former 68th ranked doubles player in the world, and the 17-year-old Barki who is touted as the future of Indonesian tennis, found a higher gear in the second set and extricated themselves with a service break after a 5-all standoff to extend the match to a super tiebreak.
All seemed lost for the top seeds as they stared at a 2-5 deficit as Rungkat and Barki carried on their momentum in the decider.
Alcantara and Mochizuki then staged their own run by pocketing the next four points to go up 6-5.
That would turn out to be their last gasp.
Rungkat and Barki racked up the next five points to close out the match.
Alcantara, who has won two ITF titles this year and a SEA Games doubles silver medal last May, will seek to bounce back next week when he sees action in another ITF $15,000 event in Indonesia.
