Patrombon breakdown leads to Chinese Taipei Davis Cup win

DAVIS CUP. Jeson Patrombon nearly took a two sets to none lead over his Chinese-Taipei
foe but lost in 4 sets. File photo from Wikipedia
Jeson Patrombon takes the first set but drops the second after a 5-1 start as Chinese
Taipei advances to the Group II finals
MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines bow to Chinese Taipei as Jeson Patrombon faltered
against Taiwanese Ti Chen, 3-6, 7-6, 6-0, 6-1, in the fourth singles match of the
Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group II semifinals on Sunday, July 17 at the Philippine
Columbian Association shell court.
Patrombon had a fiery start as he bagged the first set, 6-3, and dominated early
in the second set, leading 5 games to 1. Chen, however, rallied back from a 4-game
deficit and clinched the second set, 7-6, in the deciding game.
Chen never relinquished the lead after taking over in the 3rd set. He continued
to dominate the Patrombon for the rest of the match, only allowing the Filipino
to score one game since the 2nd set.
According to Philippine team coach Karl Santa Maria, Patrombon's defeat was due
to mental reasons than physical ones. "I think him not holding onto the lead in
the second set kinda stuck to his mind a little bit," Santa Maria said.
"I was asking him physically is there something wrong or what but he was fine, just
that basically at 5-1 he kind of took his foot off the pedal so to speak. And that's
where the top 200 Chen really saw his chance," the coach added.
The visiting team took the series by leading the Philippines 3 matches to 1 in the
semifinals as they swept the first two matches in the opening day and lost the doubles
match against the duo of Treat Huey and Ruben Gonzales.
Team Chinese Taipei will face Thailand in the finals of the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania
Zone for a chance to advance to Group I. The fifth singles match between Filipino
Ruben Gonzales and Taiwanese Liang-Chi Huang has been cancelled after Chinese Taipei
clinched the series, 3-1, per Davis Cup rules.
2011 was the last time that the Philippines was in Group I. Coach Santa Maria believes
that team Philippines should improve in singles competition to further the country's
standing.
"We're doing well in doubles but I think that guys like Niño Alcantara and Jeson
(Patrombon) really need to improve in their singles ranking and then singles play
overall," he remarked. –
Source: Rappler.com