PHILIPPINES stays in contention with doubles win over TPE 67(7),62,63,64 #RPDavisCup pic.twitter.com/UMx8rEmuHp
— Marc Anthony Reyes (@1reyesmarc) July 16, 2016
TREAT Huey and Ruben Gonzales took some time to find their rhythm but played with a touch of class when they got going to turn back Chinese Taipei’s Hung Jui-chen and Wang Chieh-fu, 6-7 (9-7), 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, Saturday night as the Cebuana Lhuillier-Philippine Davis Cup team stayed alive in the Asia Oceania Group 2 tie.
Getting over a tumultuous first set which they lost via a tiebreak, Huey and Gonzales steadied their game in the pivotal doubles to cut the Philippines’ deficit to 2-1 at the Philippine Columbian Association shell court.
The Filipinos need to sweep today’s reverse singles to pip the Taiwanese and win the tie.
Gonzales and Francis Casey Alcantara are set to play Taiwanese No. 1 Juang Liang-chi and Ti Wang, respectively, although team captains may change their lineup at the last minute.
Gargantuan task
But the task of salvaging the tie in yesterday’s action seemed gargantuan after Huey and Gonzales yielded the first set.
“They’re coming up with some great shots on the big points and we could not convert,” said Huey, the Wimbledon semifinalists and world No. 18 doubles player. “But we felt that they couldn’t play at that high level all match.”
True enough, after failing to convert four break-point opportunities in the first set, the Filipinos finally broke Hung’s serve in the second game. And then everything started falling into place.
Successful fightback
The Philippines successfully clawed back from a 0-2 deficit when it downed South Korea in an away tie in 2010 to stay in Group 1.
“We were joking that if the Cleveland Cavaliers managed to come back, why not us,” said Huey, who was part of that come-from-behind victory.
The Philippines played Gonzales instead of Jeson Patrombon at the last minute to form the best possible pair after the Taiwanese took a 2-0 lead in the opening singles.
The Filipinos had four break-point chances in the first set but blew it all to unforced errors and some occasional winners from the Taiwanese. The hosts got a set point in the tiebreak 6-5 but Gonzales returned long.