Ayl Gonzaga bolstered her promising tennis career with an impressive double victory in the Mayor Josef Fortich Cagas National Juniors Tennis Championships, while Julius Otoc delivered a standout performance in the boys’ division at the Digos City Tennis Club in Davao del Sur over the weekend.

The top-seeded 14-year-old Gonzaga dominated her age category, dropping just two games en route to the title, capped by a commanding 6-2, 6-0 victory over Princess Placa. The rising Olongapo City star continued her stellar form in the 16-and-under division, where she, as the No. 2 seed, halted Mariam Mokalam’s upset streak with a 6-0, 6-3 triumph, emerging as the lone double-title winner in the Group 2 tournament presented by Dunlop.

Mokalam had earlier stunned top seed Aika Salahuddin, 7-5, 6-4, in the semifinals but struggled against Gonzaga’s all-around prowess in the final.

Meanwhile, fifth-seeded Otoc defied expectations to claim the 14-and-U crown. He dispatched No. 3 Carl Eduarte, 6-2, 6-2, in the quarterfinals before pulling off a thrilling come-from-behind 3-6, 7-5, 10-8 victory over top-seeded Jan Gecosala, the previous week’s Cotabato champion, in the semis. Otoc then secured the title with a solid 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 4 Gil Niere, earning him MVP honors alongside Gonzaga.

The tournament, which wrapped up the three-leg Mindanao swing of the national junior circuit, is part of the Palawan Pawnshop program spearheaded by president and CEO Bobby Castro.

Other winners in the ranking event, sanctioned by Philta and supported by Universal Tennis Ranking and ICON Golf & Sports, were Kidapawan’s Dhea Cua, Maria Shan Tuyor of Tagum, Stephen Fuertes from Digos, Iñigo Barrios, also from Kidapawan, Pete Niere from Bogo, and KC Rabino from Gen. Santos.

Cua won the 18-and-U title with a 6-0, 6-0 rout of Sanschena Francisco; Tuyor clinched the girls’ 12-and-U title, edging Althea Masinadiong, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4; Fuertes triumphed in the boys’ 18-and-U with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Raphael Duay; Barrios took the boys’ 16-and-U title by defeating Gecosala, 6-1, 7-6(3); Niere secured the boys’ 12-and-U championship with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Francis Florida; and Rabino outlasted Azl Gonzaga, 3-5, 5-4(5), 10-5, to claim the 10-and-U unisex title.

Gonzaga further solidified her dominance by partnering with Francisco to clinch the 18-and-U doubles championship. Other doubles winners included Justine Gumbao and Plata (14-and-U girls), Kurt Alcantara and Fuertes (18-and-U boys), Eduarte and Gecosala (14-and-U boys), and the duo of Azl Gonzaga and Rabino, who topped the 10-and-U unisex event.

With the Mindanao leg concluded, the junior tennis circuit now shifts to the Big City for the MCF Valle Verde Championship in Pasig City from April 2-7. For details and registration, contact PPS-PEPP program director Bobby Mangunay at 0915-4046464.