MANILA, Philippines — Not so fast.
Just as the Cebuana Lhuillier-Philippine Davis Cup was expected to cruise to a tie-clincher, an audacious tandem of Pakistanis showed up and launched a daring high-noon ambush.
An ailing Treat Huey and Ruben Gonzales were caught flat-footed by a determined Aisam Qureshi and Aqeel Khan, who pulled off a 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 doubles romp that kept Pakistan alive, 2-1, in their Asia/Oceania Group 2 semifinals tie at Philippine Columbian Association.
Qureshi, world No. 27 in doubles, and Khan broke Huey’s serve in 12th game of the first set and set in motion a painful, methodical demolition of the Philippines’ prized pair right before a stunned crowd.
Fans showed up in big numbers at the club’s covered courts hoping to see a culmination of the country’s bid after Gonzales defeated Samir Ifthikar (6-4, 6-3, 6-1) andcbrought down Khan (7-5, 6-4, 6-4) in Friday’s opening rubbers.
But what they saw was Huey, world doubles No. 25 and a quarterfinalist in the last US Open and Australian Open, hardly engaging and getting flustered by the aggressive Pakistan duo.
“We just acted on every opportunity given to us, we didn’t miss any chances,” said the 34-year-old Khan after the match while Pakistani supporters crowded him for photo opportunities.
Qureshi said he felt happy giving Pakistan its first rubber win against the Philippines in a long time.
“We came here to win the doubles point, that’s for sure,” he said, adding that Huey might be “feeling the pressure” that’s why his game was off.
PH nonplaying captain Roland Kraut said Huey didn’t complain until during the match.
“He said he felt bloated; he’s not really complaining but he felt weird,” said Kraut, who gave the 28-year-old Huey soft drinks, energy bar and even antacids, “anything to perk him up.”
Huey was hardly himself during the match, except for a brief moment when they got a break point opportunity in the sixth game of the third set at 40-30. He went straight to the locker room after the match without saying a word.
In the second set, he and Gonzales faced break points almost every time and were broken in the eighth game.
“We didn’t come here thinking we can win easily, but we know that we have a fighting chance,” said Khan.
Still, the Philippines needs only to win one of the two reverse singles—with Gonzales facing Khan and Tierro taking on Ifthikar—to clinch the semifinal tie.
“As I said before it’s the singles that will be a big factor,” said Kraut.