Rivera stuns Santiago, barges into PPS Tuna Fest semifinals

Shaira Rivera bucked the odds and upended fourth seed Frances Santiago, 6-4, 6-3, to crash into the semifinal round of the ladies singles of the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala Tuna Festival Open Tennis Championship at the Gen. Santos City Tennis Club in Gen. Santos City on Thursday.

Rivera, the 17-year-old star from Davao, leaned on her solid baseline game and superb court coverage to break Santiago in the opening frame then sustained her form to dominate the next and stay in title hunt in the top-level tournament tournament sponsored by the country’s leading pawnshop, remittance and claim center Palawan Pawnshop and presented by Slazenger.