ATP Challenger Philippines Continues Rise of Philippine Tennis
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Philippine tennis is experiencing a renaissance the last couple of year thanks to
the untiring efforts and support of Philippine tennis patron Jean Henri Lhuillier
and his company Cebuana Lhuillier.
After funding the ITF Men's Futures tournament as well as co-owning the Philipine
Mavericks in the International Premiere Tennis League (IPTL) last year, Lhuillier,
just recently, helped an ATP Challenger tournament happen again in the country after
22 years.
The ATP Challenger paraded world-class players such as former world number 8 Mikhail
Youzhny who captured the singles title as well 2012 Wimbledon doubles champion Frederik
Nielsen who won the doubles title with partner Johan Brunstrom of Sweden.
"Hosting the ATP Challenger was an opportunity that was too good to pass so I did
everything possible to make it happen. It's definitely a big boost to Philippine
tennis as it provided our players the opportunity to pit their skills against world-class
players and see where they stand against the world's best. Nino Alcantara's finals
run in the doubles shows that our players have what it takes to become world-beaters
if given the right opportunities."
Philippine tennis is definitely in the upswing with Alcantara's doubles title partnership
with Johnny Arcilla in last year's Men's Futures and his finals run in the ATP Challenger
with an Indonesian partner, Treat Huey's excellent performance in the Australian
Open and AJ Lim's surge in the world junior rankings, among others.