INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines?Philippine tennis welcomed back Cecil Mamiit joyously into its fold Sunday.

The 32-year-old Fil-American, who two weeks ago appeared to have turned his back on national commitment, outlasted Hong Kong top gun Martin Sayer in an epic five-set duel to secure the country?s victory in the Asia-Oceania Zone Group 2 tie.

Mamiit used his vast edge in experience to pull the rug from under the 21-year-old hotshot, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 9-7, and give the Philippines an unbeatable 3-1 edge in the best-of-five matches at the Victoria Park in Hong Kong.

Australian Open juniors doubles champion Francis Casey Alcantara was playing Yu Hiu-tung in the no-bearing second reverse singles at press time.

The Philippines will next take on Pakistan?a 3-0 winner over Oman?in the next round on July 10 to 12 as it pursues its bid to get back into the crack Group 1.

The United States-based Mamiit, joining the RP team at the last minute after earlier negotiations over his stint bogged down, once again became the savior for a nation that has now beaten Hong Kong in all six of their Davis Cup meetings.

The 2005 and 2007 Southeast Asian Games singles champion stayed alive by winning the fourth-set tiebreak at 7-4 then fired an ace to win the marathon fifth set and seal the victory after three hours and 55 minutes.

?It was a big relief,? said Mamiit, who steered the country from Group 3 to Group 1 since he started playing Davis Cup for the country in 2006.

Mamiit also won the second opening singles against Yu, 7-6 (2), 6-1, 6-1, before teaming up with fellow Fil-Am Treat Conrad Huey in the doubles against Sayer and Yu to give RP a 2-1 lead with a 7-5, 6-2, 7-6 (4) victory.

Sayer, the Radford University ace who scored the opening singles win against Huey, 6-4, 7-6 (0), 6-2, easily won the second and third sets after dropping the first.

But Mamiit, a veteran of the US pro circuit, raised the level of his game and slowly wore down his rival before a crowd that included Philippine Sports Commission chair Harry Angping and RP tennis patron Jean Henri Lhuillier.

?This is great news for us; we take this victory with great pride,? said Philippine Lawn Tennis Association vice president Randy Villanueva, who relayed news of the RP victory to the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net).

Villanueva said Philta will file an appeal to hold the next tie in the country, and not in Pakistan, due to security reasons. Marc Anthony Reyes