MANILA, Philippines—Jeson Patrombon outgunned Thai power-hitter Kirati Siributwong, 6-2, 7-5, Wednesday to barge into the second round of the Indonesia ITF Futures 2 in Surabaya.
Unfazed by the 934th world ranking of his opponent, Patrombon proved his mettle in a slugfest to gain his second ATP point that will help improve his present 1,521st rating in the men’s tour.
“I told Jeson he could not be defensive against Kirati because he would attack him relentlessly and he had a good return of serve that put a lot of pressure on the server,” reported his coach Manny Tecson on Thursday.
Kirati is one of the top players of Thailand and a possible Southeast Asian Games campaigner in Indonesia in November, according to Tecson
The 18-year-old Patrombon, who is still campaigning as a junior where he is ranked ninth, will next face left-handed Kento Takeuchi of Japan, ranked 838th.
Patrombon barged into the main draw with twin victories in the qualifying over Chinese Taipei’s Wen-Yen Liang, 6-3, 6-3, and Irfandi Hendrawan of Indonesia, 6-0, 6-2, over the weekend.
Taiwanese Hsieh Cheng-peng, partner of Filipino Francis Casey Alcantara when they won the 2009 Australian Open boys’ doubles crown, fell in the first round of the $10,000 event.
Hsieh lost to second seed Arata Onozawa of Japan, 6-1, 7-6 (7-2).
Patrombon, the Australian Open boys’ singles quarterfinalist, dropped in the doubles with partner Thai Perakiat Sirilvethaiwattana to Siributwong and Indonesian David Susanto, 6-2, 5-7 (10-7) in the first round.