Pinoy Cuppers pin hope on doubles

LAPU LAPU CITY—Treat Huey and Francis Casey Alcantara try to  keep the flickering Philippine Davis Cup hopes alive against New Zealand when they team up in the doubles of the Asia Oceania Group 2 final set last night at Plantation Bay Resort and Spa here.
After losing the two opening singles last night, Huey and Alcantara need to slip past Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus to avoid elimination in the tie that rewards the winner with promotion to the elite Group 1 category.

The Kiwis drove their hosts into a 2-0  hole as Venus outlasted Ruben Gonzales, 4-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-0, while Jose Statham drubbed Johnny Arcilla, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, Friday.

Huey, the 28-year-old poster boy of Philippine tennis, gets going  after a milestone quarterfinal appearance in the recent US Open that came after  reaching the third round in the French Open and Wimbledon with doubles partner Dominic Inglot of Great Britain.

“I got to continue to play better, keep playing more and more tournaments and raise my level,” said Huey.

Huey and Inglot, whose partnership is already ranked 13th in the world, are gearing for an Asian swing after the Davis Cup with stints in ATP Challenger tourneys in Kaoshiung, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo and Shanghai.

“I think I’m definitely still young, I think I can go further and win semifinals, finals and hopefully win one or two grand slams, if not more,” said Huey, who lost with Inglot in Flushing Meadows to Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Marcelo Melo of Brazil, 7-5, 6-3.

They reached the quarters with an upset of world No. 3 pair Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez of Spain, 7-6 (7-2), 6-0, to become the first Filipino to make the quarters of a grand slam event since Beeyong Sison in 1981.

Huey and Inglot won two ATP Top 500 titles last year, but Huey reached the finals at Indian Wells early this year with Jerzy Janowicz of Poland before losing to legendary American twins Bob and Mike Bryan.

Meanwhile, Arcilla and former national coach Juan Johnson Jose last night received the International Tennis Federation trophies in honor of their Davis Cup  commitment.

ITF referee Puneet Gupta handed the trophy  to Arcilla for having the  most doubles wins at 10 in 29 ties played. Jose, the last Filipino netter to win an Asian Games gold, was cited for most doubles team stints  with eight, winning five of them in tandem with Raymundo Deyro, who  was also cited for most ties played (37) and most years played (17).