RUBEN Gonzales. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
CEBUANA Lhuillier-Philippine Davis Cup absorbed a stinging blowout at the hands of gritty Chinese Taipei in the opening singles Friday night at Philippine Columbian Association shell courts.
Francis Casey Alcantara suffered cramps on his leg calf and had to stop in the first game of the deciding set to bow to Huang Liang-chi, 6-1, 3-6, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 1-0 (retired) in the second match.
Earlier, Taiwanese top player Chen Ti scored a 6-2, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Ruben Gonzales in the first match of their Asia/Oceania Group 2 semifinal tie.
Now the Philippines will have to rely on Treat Huey and Jeson Patrombon in Saturday’s doubles match against Hung Jui-chen and Wang Chieh-fu to remain in contention.
Alcantara was leading 4-2 in the third but showed remarkable dip in his game, allowing Huang to drag him to a tiebreak. The 24-year-old Alcantara managed to win the set but he slowed down in the fourth.
He called for medical timeout in the fourth at 1-4 where his left calf was attended to. The 2009 Australian Open doubles juniors champion still trudged on but after the first game of the fifth set gave up.
Playing solidly from the baseline, the World No. 226 in singles and 140th in doubles, imposed his game against the 30-year-old Filipino in the match that lasted two hours and thirty minutes.
The scrappy 32-year-old Chen dictated the pace and was consistent in his game, while Gonzales never had his usual game going except in the second set where he had a early break and capitalised on it.
“I feel that when you are playing him you got to force the play a little bit,” said Gonzales. “I tried to be more aggressive and that’s the risk-reward.”
The risk backfired as Chen totally controlled the game, engaging in long rallies and waiting for opportunities to lunge at the net. “I felt that he was slow-balling me to death,” Gonzales said.
By playing consistently from the baseline, Chen put Gonzales in a spot and forced him to miss precious shots, frustrating the Filipino even more.
In the fourth set, where the Taiwanese led 5-0, the Indiana-born, and -raised Gonzales slammed his racket in disgust.
“He played good,” said Gonzales of Chen. “The credit goes to him as well. There opportunities were there I just could not capitalise on them.”
Non-playing captain Karl Santamaria also praised Chen who “played solid and consistent throughout the match. He’s playing like somebody who is ranked 200th in the world.”
But he also blamed the breaks that mostly went against Gonzales.
“We had our chances. It’s not Ruben’s day. He missed so many shots that were just too close,” added Santamaria.
Supporting the national players are Cebuana Lhuillier, Philippine Sports COmmission, Yonex and Toby’s Sports.