Kuala Lumpur: Philippine Tennis Academy player Tennielle Madis kicked off her campaign at the International Tennis Federation (ITF) J200 Kuala Lumpur event on a high note after beating local wild card Dhevieena Sarawanan, 6-0, 6-2, in the first round match on Tuesday at the National Tennis Center in Malaysia. The 17-year-old from M’lang, North Cotabato will next face fourth seed Australian Renee Alame, who took a first-round bye along with top seed Reina Goto and second seed Kanon Sawahiro of Japan, and third seed Yuyao Li of China.
According to Philippines News Agency, Madis is currently No. 213 in the ITF Juniors singles rankings. After Malaysia, she will fly to Thailand for the J300 Nonthaburi Closed Regional Championships scheduled on April 28 to May 3.
“She needs to join more tournaments and get better results to further improve her rankings,” said former Davis Cupper and SEA Games medalist Robert Angelo in an interview on Wednesday. Under the guidance of Angelo, head coach of the PTA founded by long-time sports patron Romy Chan, Madis secured two doubles titles in the United Arab Emirates last January.
Last year, she bagged five doubles titles, including four with PTA teammate Stefi Marithe Aludo in J60 events held in Manila, China, Thailand, and Sri Lanka.
