PH, Chinese Taipei split Day 1 singles matches

The Chinese Taipei was right to be wary of Treat Conrad Huey as the Filipino-American doubles specialist leveled the field at 1-all by winning the second singles match in yesterday’s start of the Davis Cup Asia Oceania Zone Group 1 knockout tie between  Chinese Taipei and the Philippines at the Plantation Bay Resort and Spa.

Huey, ranked No. 59 in  world doubles, saved the day for the Philippines after Cebuana Lhuillier Philippine Davis Cup Team’s playing captain Cecil Mamiit succumbed to Chinese Taipei’s No.1 player Chen Ti, 7-6, 2-6, 6-7, 3-6.

Huey came out waxing hot with a straight sets rout  of Chinese Taipei’s No. 2 player Jimmy Wang, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.

“We move on (referring to Mamiit’s loss). I was looking to get a point. It was one of those days wherein everything was going well, the serves going in and the ball going to where you want them to go,” Huey said of his victory, which paved the way for a crucial doubles match today.

Mamiit said they have not decided yet who to field for the doubles competition.

In the draw last Thursday, the names of Jeson Patrombon and Ruben Gonzales were submitted for the doubles competition. However, teams have a chance to change their lineup an hour before the match begins.

Huey said he feels confident for the doubles matches since all four of the Philippine netters are used to  doubles competition.

According to Huey, they are expecting a hard doubles match considering that they had lost to Chinese Taipei in the Asian Games doubles competition.

Mamiit agreed, refusing to speculate how he would fare against Wang in tomorrow’s reverse singles matches.

“It’s too far to tell, our only concern right now is the doubles.”

The Chinese Taipei team is also vague on whom they will be fielding for today’s doubles match.

Wang and Chu-Huan Yi’s names were submitted for the event during the draw but Wang said they would also have to meet for the final lineup.

The winning tandem today will give their team a 2-1 advantage going into tomorrow’s reverse matches.

Chen said he was very happy to beat Mamiit in the first singles match, considering that he had lost to the Filipino American in their match last year when he retired due to cramps.

“I respect Cecil. He is a very good player. We’ve played each other so many times and I know his style. So I played aggressive, made him run. I wanted those points,” Chen said.

As for Wang, who clearly struggled against Huey, he said that the outcome of his match was not the result he wanted but still considered it a good training for him, especially since he hasn’t played on a clay court for about seven years now.

“We should have the clay,” Wang said referring to his home country Chinese Taipei.

Unlike Chen, Wang had not played under the intense heat of the sun as it had already started to get windy and cloudy when he went up against Huey past 2 p.m. Wang said he still found it hot but conceded that the weather was pretty good.

As for the homecrowd that cheered each point the Philippine Team scored, both Chinese Taipei players said it wasn’t a distraction.

“It’s very nice, it’s good for tennis. At least 20 percent of the stadium was cheering for us,” Wang said, referring to the employees of a Taiwanese-owned company who were brought by their employer to cheer for the Chinese Taipei team.

Huey never looked troubled against the very calm and consistent Wang. The Filipino American never missed a return and scored by constantly attacking the net.

In the first two sets, both players held serves at the start before Huey surged on to break Wang’s serve and win the sets.

In the third set, Wang took the first point by breaking Huey’s serve. However, Huey immediately answered with a break of his own in the next game.

Wang managed only three points when Huey surged ahead and ended the match to his favor with a double backhand winner.

Earlier, in the match between Mamiit and Chen, the homecrowd had grown excited when Mamiit scored the first point and closed out the first set with a 7-2 tiebreak in his favor.

In the second and third sets, Chen had combined his big forehands with well placed drop shots and eventually got the better of Mamiit.