For Francis Casey Alcantara, the country’s first grand slam champion, tension was never a problem whenever he was on a tennis court.

He disclosed to abs-cbnNEWS.com that he tends to be cool as ice “unless kung sa finals.”

One example of his cool demeanor on court was when he competed at the Australian Open. “Wala akong kaba. Enjoy. Wala, tawa lang,” said Alcantara of his landmark grand slam experience.

It was in Melbourne where Alcantara made Philippine tennis history by winning the Australian Open Junior Boys’ Doubles championship alongside partner Cheng-Peng Hsieh of Chinese Taipei.

But he revealed that with the absence of nerves comes the upsurge of pressure. “Sobrang pressured, daming tao may alam [that I was playing]. Everytime I play, may pressure,” he said.

“Pero mas maganda, maraming tennis enthusiasts. Sana mas marami pang sumunod pa,” noted Alcantara.

After his Australian Open victory with Hsieh in January, the 17-year-old Cagayan de Oro native racked two more doubles titles.

In March, he and Swede Daniel Berta won the doubles junior title in the Sarawak Chief Minister's Cup in Malaysia. The same partnership nabbed the top plum in the Mitsubishi-Lancer Juniors Championships in Manila.

Alcantara was also a doubles runner-up in this year’s LTAT Junior Championships in Thailand. His most recent doubles outing was a quarterfinal finish at the Japan Open Junior Championships.

Willing to sacrifice studies

Amid the victories, Alcantara was actually juggling his time between tennis and schoolwork.

Niño, as he is fondly called by family and friends, graduated in March from Xavier University High School in Cagayan de Oro City.

However, he shared that he was not able to do the graduation march because he was in Malaysia where he won his second doubles crown of the year.

As for college, Alcantara said that he might go to the US. He is currently preparing to take the SAT which is the standardized test for college admissions in the US.

He said that “if okay ang game,” then he might pursue college tennis.

Alcantara added that he is “willing to sacrifice his studies for one year” to try and make the most of his tennis career.

In this year’s tennis calendar, Alcantara is set to compete in the boys’ division of the three remaining grand slams of the season -- Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open.

In early March, he made his Davis Cup debut in Hong Kong where he won the dead rubber match.

However, he might not be able to play for the RP-Pakistan tie in July because of Wimbledon.

Although Wimbledon ends on July 5 and the RP-Pakistan Davis Cup tie begins July 8, he pointed out, “Wala pang training.”

He hinted that he might just join some tournaments in the US.

The big league

Alcantara, meantime, further talked about his grand slam experience in Australia where he has seen all of the top-ranked players.

“Starstruck at first,” he related, but added that he already got used to walking past tennis celebrities.

Among the "tennis gods", Alcantara said he idolizes World No. 1 tennis player Rafael Nadal of Spain.

He cited Nadal’s fighting spirit as his ultimate reason for looking up to the World No. 1. Alcantara said the Spaniard is always “playing good and sobrang fit.”

Meanwhile among the lady tennis players, Alcatara confessed he has a crush on Russian heart throb Maria Kirilenko.

When asked if he would like to move to the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), he said yes, noting that “kung maganda nilalaro (ko) and I’m fit enough.” But for now, his immediate goal is to make it to the Top 5 in the world.

“Isang championship lang sa singles,” said Alcantara with much longing. He explained that a singles title would propel him to greater heights in the rankings.

Of late, Niño has lost in either the rounds of 32 or 16 in the singles division. This caused him to drop out of the juniors Top 25, even if the ranking for juniors combines the singles and doubles points.

As of April 6, 2009, Alcantara is ranked 27th.

Despite his dismal singles outings, he said he will still try his best to excel on singles. “Minamalas lang,” he said of his recent showing in singles. “Mas maganda nilalaro sa doubles.”

Compared to doubles, he said “sa singles, mas mahirap. One is to one.”

Easy-going, carefree

While in doubles he noted that there is less stress. “You talk to your partner. Tawa (lang) nang tawa.” His carefree demeanor on court is also evident before he plays a match.

He shared that he does not do much to prepare for a match. “Relax lang, listen to my iPod, lakad lakad," he said.

In fact, while waiting to play his Mitsubishi-Lancer doubles quarterfinal, Alcantara was just hanging out at the coaches and players’ lounge at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center. Sometimes he was talking and laughing with his coach, Jun Toledo. He was also chatting with a couple of foreign netters who were playing billiards.

This lad's relaxed nature shows that he is simply enjoying his ride in the juniors circuit.

Alcantara certainly feels the pressure, but he does not let it bring him down.