INQUIRER Sports

GAME SATURDAY (PCA courts)
3 p.m. -- PJ Tierro/Francis Nino Alcantara vs Jalil Khan/Aqeel Khan

MANILA, Philippines – Treat Huey scored a crushing victory over Pakistan's top player Aqeel Khan, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2, Friday night as the Philippines posted a 1-0 lead over their disheartened opponents in the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group 2 second round tie at the PCA shell courts in Paco, Manila.

Playing comfortably for the first time before a local crowd, the 23-year-old Huey displayed confidence with his steady baseline game and got a lot of help from Khan's flurry of unforced errors to win his first Davis Cup singles match.

The Philippines' Cecil Mamiit is gunning to make it 2-0 against Pakistan's No. 2 player Jalil Khan as of press time.

”I think I played well, I hit a lot of forehands running around and making him (Khan) work,'' said Huey, who is born to a Filipino mother and have been visiting in the country only when school is out.

“It's definitely great to play in front of a lot of people.''

Huey's three-week practice at the soft and slippery shell courts paid off as the 6-foot lefty glided and skidded with forehand winners to handily take first set.

“I only played shell court since last Sunday but it's like clay only faster. I can slide and move well,'' he said.

Sensing danger, the 30-year-old Khan tried to put the fight closer to the net in the second set, mounting a big rally that shoved him to 5-3 in the second set after breaking the Filipino twice.

Yet that audacious game plan backfired on him as a lot as his net forays mostly hit the net, dropping the next four games to Huey who stuck to long rallies instead.

He launched a forehand down the line for 40-30 in the ninth game before Khan hit long to yield the serve, 5-5.

”He's (Khan) a great player and didn't go down easily,'' said Huey who finished the job in two hours and 38 minutes.

Khan, who two years ago beat another Fil-Am Eric Taino in the opening singles at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center, just wasn't his usual self as he struggled to keep up with the faster and younger Huey who hailed from University of Virginia in the United States.

The Pakistanis arrived here minus top gun Aisam Qureshi who opted to play in the United States. Qureshi was pivotal in their six-tie winning run which they capped with a 4-1 win in Muscat, Oman last March.