Great action hightlights Puerto Rico Nat'l Tennis Championships

What can only be described as a blessing, this year's Puerto Rico National Tennis Championships has been nothing short of spectacular.

On Thursday night, the evening was once again perfect for tennis, the house was packed with tennis fans and they received more than what they expected.

Gabriel Montilla continued his fine play, this time against Jorge Rangel, who surprised everyone with his strong against the top seed. Rangel showed no fear and never let down, but he proved to be no match for Montilla as he lost 6-1, 6-0. Montilla has only allowed one player to win two games in a set this year. Montilla, who arrived from Jamaica where he was playing Future tournaments, has raised the level of his game beyond all expectations.

Third seed Nicolas Lopez faced surprise quarterfinalist Gilberto Alvarez and made a huge comeback to beat the eleventh seed 0-6, 6-4, 7-5. Alvarez completely dominated the first set and was up a break in the second set. Lopez who seemed to feed off the crowd came back to win the second set then immediately saw himself down a break in the third set. Alvarez then committed three double faults serving in a 4-3 lead. This gave Lopez new energy that helped him come back once again to win the final set.

Defending Champion Luis Haddock continued his dominance over sixth seed Juan Vazquez, beating him easily 6-3, 6-2. Haddock hasn't lost a set since the 2000 tournament.

Jose Mendez and Luigi Valcarcel faced each other for the fourth time in their careers. Mendez, who leads their series 2-1, came out with a bang jumping to a 3-0, then a 4-1 lead. Valcarcels finally woke up and came back to win the set 6-4. He then closed out the match with a 6-2 win in the second set.

In the women's draw, 2000 Champion Bianca Gorbea cruised over Lorell Zamot.

In doubles action top seeds Montilla and Jorge Gonzalez beat William Vidal and Eduardo Calbeto 6-0, 6-0. Edgardo Rivera and Ricardo Jordan also claimed victory over Freddy Velez and Joe Castillo.

Friday's women's quarterfinal action includes defending champion Vilmarie Castelvi, last year's finalist and doubles champion Jessica Roland and second seed Mari Toro. Castelvi who won last week's Virginia Satellite tournament is also a NCAA quarterfinalist and the University of Tennessee Women's Athlete of the Year. Roland plays at Texas A&M and Mari Toro plays at the University of Miami.

In Saturday's men's semifinals, Montilla and N. Lopez will play a rematch of last years semifinals where Lopez won. The other semifinal will see Haddock face Valcarcel.