(ASIAN GAMES) Mamiit, Huey falter in tennis team action
GUANGZHOU—Top seed Chinese Taipei grinded out a pair of singles victories that eliminated the Philippines in tennis team competition quarterfinal round Sunday in the 16th Asian Games at the Aoti Tennis Center in Tianhe district here, but not after facing testy situations against the hard-fighting Filipinos.
Yang Tsung Hua battled a game Treat Conrad Huey in a match that featured strong service games from both players and hammered out a 7-6, (7-5), 7-5 victory after an hour and 22 minutes.
“I had my chances but he simply played too good,” said Huey.
Lu Yen Hsun, Taiwan’s No. 1 player, then pulled the plug on the PH campaign in team competition, holding off a strong second set surge by Cecil Mamiit to forge a hard-earned 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) victory. Johnny Arcilla and Ruben Gonzales later scored a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Taiwanese youngsters Chen Ti and Yi Chu-Huan in a meaningless doubles match.
Huey certainly looked like he could have nailed a victory over Yang as he matched the Taiwanese shot-for-shot, serve-for-serve and break-for-break in the first set, which needed a tiebreaker to decide.
After Yang held to open the tiebreaker, Huey sent two blistering aces past his foe and looked ready to pounce on the Taiwanese. But Yang hit a beauty of a drop in the sixth game of the tiebreaker to go a break up and then watched Huey hit a backhand wide to grab a 5-2 edge and never looked back.
“I gave it my best shot out there, but these things happen,” said Huey, who was broken in the 11th game of the second set before Yang held on to close out the match.
Mamiit looked deflated at the start as Lu, who gained worldwide recognition after defeating And Roddick in an ATP tournament, dictated the first set with ease. He broke Mamiit’s first service game, fought off three break points that would have evened things up and then broke the Filipino again in the last game of the first set to go a set up.
But Mamiit came back charging in the second set. After Lu broke Mamiit’s first service game anew, a renewed sense of urgency sparked the Filipino, who broke back en route to a 3-3 deadlock in the second set.
“I think after the first set, he thought he was going have an easy time and he relaxed a bit,” said the top PH netter.
“That’s why I decided to put a lot more pressure on him and really be aggressive with my shots,”
The score was still tied at 4-4 when Mamiit started chasing Lu’s second serve and taking control of the rallies. But after a long, heated exchange, the Taiwanese used a backhand shot that nicked the corner to set up a delicate drop shot that deflated Mamiit’s momentum and allowed Lu to hold serve.
Lu broke Mamiit’s serve in the second game of the tiebreaker to set the tone for the Taiwanese victory.
“It’s just experience on hs part playing in big-time situations like these,” Mamiit said of his foe, who looked like he was getting worn out in the second set. Turns out, Lu was still feeling the effects of a recent waist injury.
“I am glad we can at least get a medal,” said Lu of his team making the semifinals against a still to be determined opponent.
“What I did was try and do my best. I think I will continue doing that tomorrow. I will take time before the semifinal to have a rest and try to recover to the best condition as I can.”
“I do not care so much who we will play in the semifinals. My concern is wether my condition can be better.”
