A Page for Francis Casey "Niño" Alcantara

It was one of those long wait at the airport due to a delayed flight that I happen to meet this lady who made me cry because of her touching story.

Her name is Sandra, a young widow and mother of three boys all playing tennis. She was going to watch her eldest son play in a tournament that will start 2 hours before our delayed flight will arrive.

She had so many touching stories: How her husband died, how they coped with the sudden death and how she raised her sons alone and continued their passion for tennis. But the most moving story she told was about her eldest son.

His name is Francis Casey or Niño, as he is fondly called. He is 17 years old. He started playing tennis at the age of five. When he was about six, he went to play in a junior tournament for children his age. It was a real good fight but he lost. It was a bitter defeat too hard to take for a boy in his tender years. He hid under a table and cried for two hours, inconsolable. When finally he was done crying, he came out from under the table and firmly said to his father: "Let's go, Dad. I need to practice now. I promise, he will never defeat me again."

That was his turning point and true to his words, he kept on winning against his opponents, including that boy who beat him, and he became the number 1 tennis player in Asia and number 20 in the world for the Junior Division. He won a grand slam in Tennis Doubles and still counting. I will not be surprised if he becomes a world champion in the future.

I never met him nor read about him, until now, because I hardly read about tennis. But his story of how he rose to become a champion through perseverance is truly inspiring.

The picture I posted was just downloaded from the blog of Herfifani at wordpress through google with the website:

http://givemeanamepls.wordpress.com/2009/01/