INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines swept the opening singles against a Pakistan side orphaned by its top player to move one win away from clinching their Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group 2 tie before a full house at the Philippine Columbian Association shell courts.

Treat Huey drew first blood against Pakistan’s top player Aqeel Khan, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2, before fellow Filipino-American Cecil Mamiit roared to a worry-free 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 triumph over a flustered Khalil Khan later in the evening as the Philippines inched closer to a promotional tie for Group 1.

Though PJ Tierro and Francis Casey Alcantara were listed in today’s doubles at 3 p.m., there’s a possibility that non-playing captain Cris Cuarto may field Mamiit and Huey to wrap up the best-of-five tie.

A win would send the Filipinos against the winner of the Indonesia-New Zealand tie in Hamilton, where the host Kiwis also led, 2-0.

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 Oman last March.

And that showed in the way they played last night.

Playing confidently before a local crowd for the first time, the 23-year-old Huey leaned on a steady baseline game to win his first ever Davis Cup singles match.

“I think I played well, I hit a lot of forehands running around and making him (Khan) work,” said Huey, a regular visitor of his mother’s country of birth during his break from school at University of Virginia. “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 southpaw came up with a slew of 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.

The 30-year-old Khan went to the net in the second set and took a 5-3 lead after breaking Huey twice. But the Pakistani lost his touch just as fast and Huey rallied to win the next four games.

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