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Francis Casey Alcantara, Johnny Arcilla roll into second round of Metro Manila Open

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Rosy Mina

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Johnny Arcilla at the 1st Metro Manila Open by PCA. PCA Open on Facebook" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/sports/05/21/20230521-johnny-arcilla.jpg"/><figcaption>Johnny Arcilla at the 1st Metro Manila Open by PCA. <em>PCA Open on Facebook</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA – Filipino tennis icons Francis Casey Alcantara and Johnny Arcilla are among the men’s singles opening-round winners at the 1st Metro Manila Open held at the Philippine Columbian Association (PCA) Complex in Plaza Dilao, Paco, Manila. </p><p>Fresh from his men’s doubles gold medal triumph with Ruben Gonzales at the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia, Alcantara notched a 6-4, 6-4 win against Norman Gaspar on Saturday.</p><p>“I wanted to play because I’m leaving on the 29th or 30th for Jakarta again so better to have something competitive before my Futures tournaments again,” the 31-year-old told ABS-CBN News about his decision to participate in the inaugural Metro Manila Open by PCA. </p><p>The eighth seed, who became the first Filipino grand slam winner at the 2009 Australian Open boys’ doubles event, will go up against Loucas Fernandez in the second round.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/05/10/23/tennis-metro-manila-open-kicks-off-inaugural-edition">Tennis: Metro Manila Open kicks off inaugural edition</a></li></ul><p>Arcilla, the top seed and record 10-time PCA Open champion, ousted lucky loser Miguel Iglupas, 6-3, 6-2, to set up a second-round clash with Gab Tiamson.</p><p>The 43-year-old shared that the Metro Manila Open is one of his goals this season, remarking, “Sana kaya ko pa.”</p><p>The coach of UAAP Season 85 men’s tennis champion University of Santo Tomas also told ABS-CBN News that retirement is far from his mind.</p><p>“Hindi muna… Not this year, kaya pa,” Arcilla said in February during the Unified Tennis Philippines recognition and coffeetable book launch, where he, Alcantara, and Alex Eala were lauded for their achievements in the 2022 season.</p><p>Alcantara and Arcilla, champions of the 2015 Philippines F2 Futures, are also entered in the men’s doubles draw, with Alcantara and Bryan Saarenas as the top seeds and Arcilla and Ronard Joven as the No. 2 seeds.</p><p>Additionally, Alcantara will play mixed doubles with national women’s team coach Czarina Mae Arevalo as the second-seeded pair.</p><p>Sanctioned by the Philippine Tennis Association, the Metro Manila Open by PCA offers free admission to the public until May 28.</p><p>The tournament began on May 1 with the age group competitions, followed by the ladies’ team tennis (age category), intercollegiate, men’s team tennis, and qualifying rounds.</p><p>The final week features men’s singles, ladies’ singles, men’s doubles, ladies’ doubles, and mixed doubles with a total prize pot of PHP 1,779,000.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/02/13/23/tennis-utp-lauds-eala-alcantara-and-arcilla">Unified Tennis Philippines lauds Eala, Alcantara and Arcilla</a></li></ul><p>Among the top prizes are PHP 150,000 for the ladies’ singles champion, PHP 80,000 for the men’s doubles titlists, PHP 50,000 for the winners of ladies’ doubles, and PHP 50,000 for the mixed doubles victors. </p><p>The winner of the men’s singles open will receive PHP 300,000 while his runner-up will take home PHP 150,000. </p><p>The men’s singles action will resume on Monday, and other seeds who progressed in the second round include Joven, Elbert Anasta, Nio Tria, Joseph Victorino, Jose Maria Pague, Jed Olivarez, Bryan Otico, Iggy Pantino, and AJ Lim.</p><div><br/><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qdUHJRKEcKs?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Filipino tennis icons Francis Casey Alcantara and Johnny Arcilla are among the men’s singles opening-round winners at the 1st Metro Manila Open.