FILE — Treat Conrad Huey of the Philippines. AFP PHOTO / Bay ISMOYO /
Treat Huey and Slovak partner Andreja Klepac scored a stunning upset victory over their third-seeded foes Wednesday to barge into the Australian Open mixed doubles semifinals, making him the first Filipino to have reached that far in a Grand Slam event.
The 30-year-old Virginia-born Huey and the 29-year-old new partner Klepac shocked Chan Yung-yan of of Chinese Taipei and Rohann Bopanna of India, 6-2, 7-5, to both reach career milestones in Melbourne.
Huey reached quarterfinals in the men’s doubles in the 2013 US Open and the 2014 Australian Open — tying the best ever Grand Slam performance by a Filipino — while Klepac made the quarters of both Grand Slams events last year.
It was the best finish for a Filipino in world-class tennis although in 2009 Francis Casey Alcantara bagged the boys doubles title in Melbourne in tandem with Taiwanese Hsieh Cheng-peng.
Other Filipino breakthroughs were that of Virgilio “Beeyong” Sison who made the quarterfinals of the French Open men’s doubles in 1981; Felix Barrientos who reached Wimbledon juniors singles semis in 1985; and Jeson Patrombon who made Australian Open juniors singles quarterfinals in 2010.