Three finals appearances in three weeks. Back-to-back doubles titles.
The veteran savvy of the Philippines’ top doubles player Francis Casey Alcantara blended perfectly with the youthful energy of rising Thai teen standout Maximus Jones, as they bagged the title at the ITF World Tour M6 Nakhon Si Thammarat
The duo defeated Adil Kalyanpur and Vishnu Vardhan of India, 2-6, 7-5, 10-8, on Saturday in Thailand.
After a lethargic start where they were thoroughly dominated in the first set, Alcantara and Jones bounced back strong in the second.
They earned their first service break of the match in the seventh game to go up 4-3 but found themselves trailing again at 4-5 after being broken in the eighth game.
Showing their determination to send the match to a third set, they swept the next three games to even the match at one set apiece.
In the super tiebreak, Alcantara and Jones seized the initiative by jumping to a 4-2 advantage. But their Indian foes staged a furious rally to retake the lead at 4-5.
The Filipino and Thai duo showed they could string together three straight points to regain the driver’s seat, which they did not relinquish the rest of the way.
Seeded first in the tournament, Alcantara and Jones opened their campaign with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 win over the Indian pair of Rishi Reddy and Dhakshineswar Suresh.
They then went through a tough quarterfinal before getting past Thai bets Kasidit Samrej and Pawit Sornlaksup, 6-4, 5-7, 10-6.
In the semifinals, the top seeds upended the Indonesian tandem of Christopher Rungkat and Nathan Anthony Barki in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.
It was sweet revenge for Alcantara and Jones, who had lost to Kalyanpur and Vardhan, 3-6, 2-6, on July 6 in the finals of the ITF World Tour M4 at the same venue, the Walailak University Tennis Centre.
The 32-year-old Alcantara and the 19-year-old Jones bounced back the week after to emerge as champions of the ITF World Tour M5 on July 13.
