Francis Casey Alcantara and his Thai partner Pruchya Isara yielded to unseeded Japanese Shintaro Mochizuki and Kaito Uesugi, 5-7, 4-6, in the quarterfinal round of the  ATP Challenger Chennai Open in India Thursday, Feb. 6.

Alcantara and Isaro put up a gallant fight in their 1-hour and 23-minute duel but the Japanese pair kept their composure and preserved the lead despite the repeated attempts from the Filipino-Thai duo.

With their win, Mochizuki and Uesugi clash with Indians Vijay Sundar Prashanth and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan in the semifinal of the tournament which showcases a $160,000 (around P9.3 million) prize pool.

Prior to their exit, Alcantara and Isaro took a hard-fought 6-3, 4-6, 10-7 victory over Russians Kazakh Timofey Skatov and Russian Alexey Zakharov in round of 16.

After trailing 1-4 in the opening game, Alcantara and Isaro, the competition’s No. 4 seed, remained collected as they were able to level the score at 5-5.

Though they were on the verge of stealing the first frame, the duo came up short as they suffered double faults which eventually favored the Japanese bets.

Similar to the second set, Alcantara and Isaro gained a 4-3 lead, but Mochizuki and Uesugi weathered the storm and took three games to seal the match.