At A Glance
- Francis Casey Alcantara and Yuta Shimizu of Japan fell short in the crunch to stumble early in the men's doubles of the New Delhi Open in India.
Francis Casey Alcantara and Yuta Shimizu of Japan fell short in the crunch to stumble early in the men’s doubles of the New Delhi Open in India.
The unseeded Filipino-Japanese pair succumbed to Chinese Taipei’s Ray Ho and Australia’s Callum Puttergill, 7-5, 6-4, in the opening round of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Challenger tournament.
A victory for Alcantara and Shimizu could have arranged them a meeting with fourth-seeded Japanese duo Toshihide Matsui and Kaito Uesugi, who clobbered Indian pair Sidharth Rawat and Parth Aggarwal, 6-2, 6-1.
Alcantara hopes to get back on track after slipping two notches from a career-high No. 162 last week to No. 164 this week in the ATP doubles rankings.
He started the year ranked at No. 211.
He hopes to follow up his title victory in the M25 Chennai International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament with Indonesian partner Christopher Rungkat last January.
Despite the setback, Alcantara's longtime patron Jean Henri Lhuillier is optimistic of his future endeavors.
"Nino's (Alcantara) rise in the global rankings just shows how dedicated, devoted and talented he is. We stand by him a hundred percent and are eagerly waiting for his next achievement," said Lhuillier.