Tierro stays alive, ousts Spaniard; Arcilla falls

MANILA, Philippines — Patrick John Tierro used his experience and familiarity with the playing surface to stun Spanish young gun Adam Hermida Sanjurjo, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, Thursday and reach the singles quarterfinals of the Olivarez Cup-Philippine international men’s tennis championship at Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

Tierro abandoned his power game and relied on a variety of shots to frustrate the 18-year-old Sanjurjo, who advanced with a big upset of Ivo Minar, a member of the Czech Republic’s Davis Cup 2012 world group champion squad.

“I was trying to fight him force against force, but in the second set I tried to mix things up and it worked,” said Tierro, the 28-year-old who is staging a comeback after finishing his  psychology degree at De La Salle University.

Down a break in the second set at 1-3, Tierro broke back and won the next four points to force a deciding set.

In the third, Tierro broke Sanjurjo in the sixth game and sustained his charge to emerge as the lone Filipino survivor following the exit of Johnny Arcilla, who bowed to Australian fifth seed Andrew Whittington, 6-4, 6-2.

“I think the crowd’s cheers helped me a lot,” added Tierro who will take on another Spaniard, fourth seed Roberto Ortega-Olmedo, who ousted compatriot Carlos Boluda-Purkiss, 6-3, 6-2.

Whittington, who won the Mitsubishi Lancer junior boys singles title three years ago at the expense of Filikpino Jeson Patrombon, will next face third seed Japanese Shuichi Sekiguchi, who advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Thai Kittipong Wachiramanowong.

Meanwhile, Filipino Ruben Gonzales and Thai partner Sonchat Ratiwatana recovered from a stinging first-set loss to oust Sarjurjo and Japanese Shuichi Sekiguchi, 6-7 (9-7), 7-5, (10-5), and barge into the doubles Final 4.

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