MANILA — Francis Casey Alcantara of the Philippines and Colin Sinclair of Northern Mariana Islands fell short in the men’s doubles final of the M15 Cairo tournament in Egypt, losing to Lorenzo Joaquin Rodriguez of Argentina and Ilya Rudiukov of Russia, 5-7, 4-6, on Saturday.

Rodriguez and Rudiukov overpowered Alcantara and Sinclair in 1 hour and 28 minutes at the Al-Solaimaneyah Tennis Center.

This is the third men’s doubles runner-up finish for Alcantara in Egypt following last month’s losses in the finals of the first and fourth legs of the M15 Sharm ElSheikh Futures series with Kelsey Stevenson of Canada.

At the final of the M15 Cairo, which is also a Futures tournament, Alcantara and Sinclair gained a 2-0 lead before Rodriguez and Rudiukov equalized and broke to lead at 4-3, thanks to a forehand winner.

Alcantara and Sinclair broke back and saved a break point to take a 5-4 lead, but Rodriguez and Rudiukov went on to win the next three games to claim the first set, 7-5.

Both teams maintained their service holds in the second set until the ninth game, where a forehand error from Alcantara and Sinclair caused Rodriguez and Rudiukov to break and serve for the match at 5-4.

An ace by Rodriguez and Rudiukov brought about two match points, but a backhand error from the Argentine and Russian allowed Alcantara and Sinclair to be at 40-40.

Another booming ace from Rodriguez and Rudiukov sealed the match at 6-4.

Alcantara, 30, is the first Filipino to win a grand slam title after winning the Australian Open junior boys’ doubles championship with Cheng-Peng Hsieh of Chinese Taipei in 2009.

In 2019, he won the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games men’s doubles gold with Jeson Patrombon.

Alcantara, the ATP Doubles World No. 580 with a career high of No. 257 in 2018, also competed in the M15 Cairo singles qualifying round as a wildcard, posting a second round finish.

Another Filipino in this week’s Cairo qualifying draw was 24-year-old Eric Olivarez, Jr., who lost in the first round.

Meanwhile, 2019 SEA Games men’s silver medalists Treat Huey and Ruben Gonzales recently competed in doubles tilts of the ATP Challenger Tour.

An eight-time ATP doubles titlist and SEA Games mixed doubles gold medalist with Denise Dy, 36-year-old Huey lost in the first round of the Elizabeth Moore Sarasota Open in Florida, United States alongside American Mitchell Krueger.

Gonzales, 36, and Indonesian Christopher Rungkat also bowed out in the first round of the TK Sparta Prague Open in Czech Republic.

• Francis Casey Alcantara, Canadian Stevenson fall short in M15 Egypt doubles final
• Tennis: Top seeds halt Alcantara, Canadian partner in Egypt final

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