The Philippines Albert Lim continues his giant-killing ways and has qualified for the finals of the prestigious Junior Orange Bowl Boys 12 years finals where he will face top seed Artem Dubrivny of Russia.
After getting through the qualifying tournament, Lim racked up a string of impressive victories on the clay courts of Salvadore Park in Coral Gables City, Florida.
In his opening match Lim beat No. 5 seed Tomas Etchverry of Argentina 3-6/6-1/6-1. He then blasted Francisco Catulo of Portugal 6-0/6-0 before whipping Jonathan Hefetz of Istrael 6-2/6-1.
In the round of eight Lim had a tough first set against Barnaby Smith of Britain before taking the set 7-5, but raced through the second set 6-0 to set up a clash with the United States No. 1 player, No. 2 tournament seed and local favorite Alexander Del Corral.
Lim made short work of the American winning in straight sets 6-2/6-1 . He followed this up with a 6-2/6-1 victory over another American favorite, No. 9 seed Noah Makarome in the semi finals to set up a showdown against No. 1 seed Artem Dubrivny of Russia.
A story by Collette Lewis noted that Lim had won ten matches in the past eight days and showed no signs of tiring in his two matches on the same day against del Coral and Makarome.
Lim was described as “a powerfully built right-hander with serious pace on his serve and forehand.”
The Junior Orange Bowl International Twennis Championships has a rich history of attracting the most promising young tennis players in the world.
Among the outstanding players in past years were 2002 Under 14 winner and 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro while other big name stars who saw action in one of the top tournaments for juniors in the world included Andy Roddick, Jim Courier and Andre Agassi.
Prior to the Junior Orange Bowl, the 12 year old Letran freshman won both the boys under 14 singles and doubles at the Pacific Coast Tennis Championships in Los Angeles.
Lim won the singles title with a 6-0/6-7/6-1 triumph over top seeded American Chase Lipscomb and teamed up with Robert Baylen to beat the American pair of Colter Smith and Ricky Smith in the doubles finals 5-7/7-6/6-3.
Lim is a protégé of the Philippine Tennis Academy headed by Romy Chan.
