PH aces complete Davis Cup sweep

IRIGA CITY—The Philippines labored through a first-set hiccup and hammered out a tough 6-7 (3), 7-5, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4) victory over Pacific Oceania to complete a sweep of their Davis Cup tie with an insurmountable 3-0 lead.

Ruben Gonzales and Johnny Arcilla wasted three match points in the fourth set but gritted their teeth in the tiebreak to finally put away Daniel Llarenas and Cyril Jacobe after almost four hours.

The match, which finished at 11 p.m., sealed the win for the Philippines, which is hoping to get out of Group 2 with a brand-new team built around young players like Jeson Patrombon.

“We are rebuilding the team and it’s a good position to be in,” said nonplaying captain Cecil Mamiit.

It also rendered useless the scheduled reverse rubbers Sunday. Patrombon is matched against Michael Leong, while Huey is pitted against Jacobe though the lineup can still be changed one hour before the matches.

Huey, world’s No. 47 in doubles, could have dramatically improved the chances of winning but the Cebuana Lhuillier-Philippine team opted for Arcilla.

The Philippines actually lost the first set of the match as Gonzales and Arcilla, paired together for the first time, struggled to figure out the game plan of Jacobe and Llarenas, whose father is a native of Pangasinan who migrated to Guam.

Filipino No. 1 Patrombon launched the country’s campaign last Friday with a stunning win over Jacobe, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (4), before Huey crushed Leong 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 to give the host a 2-0 cushion going into last night’s doubles match.

The host city pulled all the stops to stage the tie which coincided with the Tinagba Festival, the region’s marquee festival that culminated yesterday with a grand parade of floats from all over Bicolandia and colorful street dancing.

The Philippines is looking at winning three ties this year to graduate to Group 1 competitions next year. The Filipinos will meet either Pakistan or Lebanon in the next round.

Meanwhile, in Madrid, John Isner shocked Roger Federer in four sets to secure a 2-0 lead for the United States away to Switzerland in Davis Cup World Group action on Friday while title-holder Spain carved out the same advantage over Kazakhstan in their first-round tie.

Big-serving Isner beat Federer, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-2, to end his foe’s 15-match unbeaten run in Davis Cup singles rubbers. Mardy Fish had earlier edged Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-2, 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 9-7.

Spain began the defense of its title with Nicolas Almagro and Juan Carlos Ferrero winning in contrasting fashion.

Almagro scored a 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Kazakh Andrey Golubev while Ferrero returned to the Davis Cup with a thrilling 6-1, 4-6, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 win over Mikhail Kukushkin. With a report from Reuters