Patrombon nails first int’l net title

Jeson Patrombon captured his first international title with an easy 6-3, 6-1 victory over Serbian Nikola Milojevic in the China Junior 2 International Tennis Championship in Xiamen Sunday.

The top-seeded Patrombon punished the seventh-ranked, 6-foot-2 Milojevic with solid returns to clinch the victory that earned him 100 ITF ranking points.

Patrombon is expected to surpass his best-ever ranking of No. 37 last June when the ITF releases its new tally next week.

After scraping past Li Jiayi of China, 7-5, 0-6, 7-5, in the opening round, the 17-year-old from Cagayan de Oro disposed of his next three foes with ease to set up the clash with Milojevic.

Patrombon cruised to a 6-4, 2-0 (retired) triumph over Thai Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul, demolished Bar Tzuf Botzer of Israel, 6-3, 6-4, and toyed with China’s Cao Zhaoyi, 6-1, 6-3.

“This result will now propel him into the top 30 in the world, and we are getting closer to our objective of breaking into the top 10 by the end of the year,” said Patrombon’s coach Manny Tecson in an e-mail yesterday.

Next stop for Patrombon is the Japan World Super Juniors, a tournament which has a rating similar to that of the Grand Slam in Osaka on Oct. 18. The Junior 2 event which he won in China is two rungs lower than the Grand Slam.