Stefi Marithe Aludo at the 2023 Metro Manila Open. PCA Open on Facebook
After breezing through the J30 Thu Dau Mot draw in Vietnam where she knocked out three seeds, Stefi Marithe Aludo of the Philippines fell to Chinese top seed Minxu Zhou in the final of the ITF Juniors tournament.
Zhou saw off Aludo 7-5, 6-1, at Court 1 of the Binh Duong New City Community Sport Center on Sunday.
The 14-year-old from Trento, Agusan del Sur began her singles campaign with an upset of sixth seed Hiu Tung Sze of Hong Kong, 6-4, 6-3.
She moved past Vietnamese players Trinh Phuong Le Nguyen in the second round, 6-2, 6-1, and No. 2 seed Sophia Tran Ngoc Nhi Huynh in the quarterfinals, 6-4, 6-3.
In the semifinals, the 2023 Palarong Pambansa silver medalist for Caraga stunned third seed Yosita Sriporn of Thailand, 6-2, 6-4.
Aludo partnered with Daniella Clara Suryapranata of Indonesia for a first-round finish in the doubles draw, where the fourth seeds were edged out by South Koreans Seohyeon Lee and Gyuri Park, 3-6, 6-4, 6-10.
According to the Philippine Tennis Academy, the J30 Thu Dau Mot is just Aludo’s third competition on the ITF Juniors Tour.
At the J60 Tay Ninh City in Vietnam in February, the qualifier posted an opening-round result and doubles quarterfinal finish with Park.
A week later at the same Vietnamese event, she went out in the singles second round and doubles semifinals alongside Park again.
Aside from Aludo, other Filipinos who competed at the J30 Thu Dau Mot were Mikaela Rose Ngu and Brice Vincent Baisa.
Ngu, 13, lost to No. 8 seed Hanh Hong Ngo of Vietnam in the opening round, 4-6, 1-6.
She suffered the same fate in doubles with Indian Samhitha Koganti against Vietnam’s Ngo Chung Thien Lam Ngo and India’s Shanvitha Reddy Nukala, 1-6, 2-6.
The 14-year-old Baisa, meanwhile, defeated Vietnamese wildcard Quoc Lam Vo in the first round, 7-5, 6-3, before losing to Chinese No. 1 seed Fanming Meng in the second round, 5-7, 3-6.
Baisa teamed up with Japan’s Kohei Takano for a quarterfinal result against No. 4 seeds Ingvar Abramovich Rusli of Indonesia and Kotaro Shirota of Japan, 4-6, 3-6.
The Filipino-Japanese tandem kicked off their boys’ doubles run with a 7-5, 6-3 elimination of home bets Khang Quoc Thang Huynh and Tuan Dat Vo.
Aludo and Baisa are set to compete in the second leg of the J30 Thu Dau Mot beginning Monday.
As the No. 13 seed, Aludo received a bye in the opening round and will face Paramee Tadkaew of Thailand in the second round.
Baisa is entered in the boys’ singles main draw with fellow Filipinos Mateo Victor Rivas, 17, and Alfonso Javier Infante, 16.
RELATED VIDEO